Democrats are passing on attacking former President Donald Trump over the stream of revelations coming out of his first criminal trial, convinced that he’s doing enough damage to himself.
“Trump’s putting in enough effort for all of us. All of this reminds America of what life with Donald Trump is like,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat who managed Trump’s second impeachment, told NOTUS.
Staying low-key, though, has clear risks for Democrats. For one thing, despite the historic nature of the charges Trump faces, most Americans so far are not closely following the trial. A PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll this month found that 55% of respondents weren’t paying attention to the trial much or at all, and a CNN/SSRS poll from the start of the trial found 55% of independent voters were not following the proceedings closely or at all. And with President Joe Biden currently trailing Trump in most national polls, there hasn’t been a clear sign as yet that the trial is substantially changing voters’ plans for November.