America awoke yesterday ready to face a day of ignominy as its former head of state was hauled before a court, leaving an indelible stain on the nation.
he move has left Republicans of all stripes outraged but, perhaps more notably, there has been a deafening silence from Democrat leaders who have pursued Donald Trump and accused him of wrongdoing for years.
As the backlash against his indictment grows, even many opponents of Mr Trump felt charging him may have been a step too far for America.
“I do think that this is a watershed moment,” said Bill Barr, Mr Trump’s former Attorney General who split with him in 2021.
“And I don’t think it’s going to end up good for the country.”
Meanwhile, poll after poll has demonstrated growing support for Mr Trump. A new one on Monday night showed he had widened his lead over his rivals in the 2024 Republican presidential nominating contest.
According to the Reuters/Ipsos poll, 48pc of Republicans said they want Mr Trump to be their party’s nominee. That was up from 44pc in a similar poll taken shortly before he was indicted.
Only 19pc backed his closest rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, which was down from 30pc in the previous poll. No other candidate scored in double digits.
The poll also showed that a narrow majority of Americans, including 80pc of Republicans, believe the charges against Mr Trump are politically motivated.
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After being ejected from Twitter and Facebook in the wake of the US Capitol riot in January of 2021, Mr Trump is once again dominating news coverage.
As he was heading to New York on Monday – his every move followed by TV cameras – Americans may have been unaware that US President Joe Biden was in Minnesota speaking about infrastructure and manufacturing jobs.
While Mr Biden toured a factory, TV screens showed Mr Trump’s plane in the air.
For days, Mr Biden has been unable to take questions without repeatedly being asked about Mr Trump and his legal case.
So far, the current president has consistently declined to comment. Democrat strategist Lis Smith said the White House had been “smart” to stay silent.
She said: “In 2020 Joe Biden benefited from voters’ exhaustion with the chaos of the Trump administration.
“The split screen of President Biden focused on doing his job well versus Trump and the Republican Party in chaos will only help him.”
But the problem for Mr Biden, as he prepares to launch his re-election campaign, is becoming that he may not get on the screen at all.
A White House official said: “Whatever else is happening, you just have to keep talking about what it is that you want to talk about.”