Meetings with foreign dignitaries at Trump Tower. A staged visit to a convenience store in the New York City Democratic stronghold of Harlem. Daily remarks broadcast on national cable television from outside the courtroom, and a blizzard of angry posts on his Truth Social platform.
\nIn the midst of his New York hush money trial, Republican former president Donald Trump is testing the boundaries of the saying that there is no such thing as bad publicity. Even if you are running for the highest office in the land.
\nMaking his third White House run, Trump is using the elevated media attention to amplify his claims of judicial persecution while simultaneously trying to appear presidential by meeting leaders or envoys from U.S. allies, who have proven willing to call on him despite his facing dozens of charges in four separate criminal cases.
\nMedia are barred from televising Trump\u2019s trial and he is a mute observer in the proceedings. Before the trial started on April 15, debate centered on how Trump would balance his candidacy with his dual role as a criminal defendant trapped in court out of public view for most of four days a week.
\nHis movements curtailed, Trump and his campaign have capitalized on the \u201caudience of millions\u201d afforded by cameras that follow his every move, said Republican consultant Jeanette Hoffman, including his staged visits to the convenience store, or bodega, in Harlem and with union workers at a construction site in Midtown Manhattan.
\n\u201cNo campaign would want to have their candidate in the courtroom instead of with voters on the campaign trail,\u201d Hoffman said. \u201cBut I also think they\u2019re smart to maximize their moments of support in front of the camera during the trial.\u201d
\nStill, Trump has not had a campaign rally since the trial started, although two are planned for next week in the battleground states of Michigan and Wisconsin. An incoming storm forced him to abruptly postpone a North Carolina rally on April 20. On his one day off from the trial this week he played golf.
\nOpinion polls suggest that however Trump tries to make the best of a bad situation, the trial carries political risks. They show some Republican voters could turn against him if he becomes a convicted felon, costing him crucial support in a close Nov. 5 election rematch with Democratic incumbent Joe Biden.
\nThe tawdry details being aired at the trial \u2013 the case revolves around payoffs to women Trump is alleged to have slept with \u2013 could repel the women voters he needs to win in November, said Tricia McLaughlin, former communications director for former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
\nEMBRACING THE \u2018SPLIT SCREEN\u2019
\nThe Biden White House has embraced a split-screen effect, seeking to draw a sharp contrast between Trump the criminal defendant with Biden the president talking up his work on behalf of Americans in battleground states that decide U.S. elections.
\nTrump has also taken to Truth Social, his social media platform where he has just shy of 7 million followers, to portray the trial as a \u201cwitch hunt\u201d and election interference while accusing the judge of being conflicted.
\nHe unleashed a barrage of 74 posts on April 15, when the trial kicked off with jury selection, more than double his daily average this year, according to an analysis by Josephine Lukito, an assistant professor at University of Texas at Austin.
\nMore important than the limited readership of Truth Social, political analysts say, is the amplifying effect of TV broadcasters which regularly report on Trump\u2019s posts, some of which prosecutors say have violated the judge\u2019s gag order prohibiting attacks on witnesses.
\nHowever, Trump\u2019s repeated accusations of a witch hunt could have diminishing returns in the form of less media coverage if he persists in saying the same thing every day.
\nNevertheless, \u201cthe idea that he is silenced is a joke,\u201d said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, a professor of communication at the University of Pennsylvania. \u201cWhat the trial is giving him is the opportunity to bookmark his appearances with on-camera access, underscored by Truth Social.\u201d
\nTrump faces criminal charges in New York of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, a move prosecutors say was meant to influence the 2016 election.
\nWhen the charges were first announced a year ago Trump immediately began campaigning on them, painting himself as a victim of a two-tiered justice system that targeted Republicans. Prosecutors have dismissed the claims as untrue.
\nTrump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt predicted the case would backfire. \u201cAs this witch-hunt continues, President Trump\u2019s support from Americans of all backgrounds will continue to grow as they watch Joe Biden and the Democrats put on this bogus show trial six months before the election,\u201d she said.
\nThe charges were brought by the Manhattan district attorney, an elected Democrat; the Biden administration is not involved.
\nMIXING HARLEM WITH FOREIGN POLICY
\nTrump\u2019s trial has not deterred some foreign dignitaries from stopping by his home in Trump Tower to see him, allowing his aides to orchestrate a series of campaign-friendly moments that show him engaged in major issues such as the war in Ukraine.
\nPolish President Andrzej Duda and former Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso have held talks with Trump there, while British Foreign Secretary David Cameron met him at Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago resort the week before the trial started.
\nBut it was Trump\u2019s visit last week to the Harlem bodega that stood out for Republican strategist Charlie Gerow, who is not involved in the Trump campaign.
\nGerow said it was a remarkable feat to orchestrate a stop in an area generally unfriendly to Republicans and have the resulting coverage be positive.
\n\u201cThe little side trip to the bodega last week was pure political genius,\u201d he said.
\n(Reuters)trial. media attention, Trump’s trial, campaign strategy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Donald Trump is facing a hush money trial in New York and is using the media attention to amplify his claims of persecution. He is meeting with foreign dignitaries at Trump Tower, making staged visits to locations like a convenience store in Harlem, and posting on his Truth Social platform. Despite the trial, Trump has not had any campaign rallies but is planning some in battleground states. The trial could carry political risks for Trump, as opinion polls show some Republican voters may turn against him if he becomes a convicted felon. The Biden White House is seeking to draw a contrast between Trump and Biden, with Trump accusing the trial of being a witch hunt on his social media platform. Foreign dignitaries have visited Trump at Trump Tower, and he has made efforts to engage in major issues like the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":9890,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[6552,5800,6393,1234,2699,492,3397,461,186,2506,6846,1221,8125,3894,3146,7606,1625,2210,3787,932,5726,3496,4117,166,1167,1600,153,6144,5727,2796,756,6242,6704,582,2121,3940,2952,8123,7969,1346,2257,2628,393,1527,4593,634,6121,6663,4833,5863,6130,4843,1792,7253,1400,4620,1022,2714,1005,6386,6928,817,6842,1817,2469,1358,1026,1906,841,7254,7275,8124,3328,17,7850,173,4100,1379,293,3306,457,165,6305,1100,18],"class_list":["post-9889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-access","tag-americans","tag-analysis","tag-attacks","tag-battleground-states","tag-biden","tag-biden-administration","tag-british","tag-business","tag-cameras","tag-cameron","tag-campaign","tag-campaign-strategy","tag-charges","tag-communication","tag-communications","tag-construction","tag-construction-site","tag-convenience","tag-court","tag-criminal-charges","tag-defendant","tag-democrats","tag-donald-trump","tag-draw","tag-election","tag-elections","tag-foreign-policy","tag-gag-order","tag-issues","tag-joe-biden","tag-judge","tag-jury-selection","tag-justice","tag-land","tag-leaders","tag-media","tag-media-attention","tag-media-coverage","tag-meeting","tag-meetings","tag-money","tag-new-york","tag-observer","tag-office","tag-opinion","tag-opportunity","tag-pennsylvania","tag-policy","tag-polls","tag-porn","tag-president","tag-prime-minister","tag-rallies","tag-rally","tag-report","tag-republican","tag-republican-presidential-candidate","tag-republicans","tag-situation","tag-six","tag-social-media","tag-social-media-platform","tag-split","tag-storm","tag-support","tag-talks","tag-trial","tag-trump","tag-trump-campaign","tag-trump-trial","tag-trumps-trial","tag-truth-social","tag-ukraine","tag-university","tag-usa","tag-visit","tag-voters","tag-war","tag-war-in-ukraine","tag-white","tag-white-house","tag-who","tag-women","tag-world"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n