Amid ongoing controversy and accusations that he tampered with election results, former president Donald Trump has said that an updated indictment against him has actually improved his polling numbers.
In a recent interview with conservative commentator Mark Levin, the GOP nominee said that special counsel Jack Smith’s recently filed, amended indictment related to election interference and the January 6, 2021, riots have seen his “poll numbers go up.” Trump hinted at how absurd the situation was, saying he was indicted on election interference charges and that he had “every right” to do what he did, and then his ratings increase.
He added that this contradicts the usual trend of people “get[ting] indicted” and their poll numbers “go[ing] down.” Trump has been under fire for the past four years, making headlines over his claims that the 2020 presidential election was rift with voter fraud and was stolen from him, the rightful victor.
He was charged by Smith with an array of conspiracy and obstruction charges, all of which he has pleaded not guilty to in the name of political attacks. But a notable setback in the case occurred in July, when the Supreme Court determined that former presidents are protected from prosecution for things they did which were connected to their core powers as commanders-in-chief.
This ruling meant that charges against Trump in the election interference case could only be prosecuted if and where they related to his personal behavior rather than his official acts as president.
In light of this, Smith filed an updated indictment against the former president, paving another road for federal prosecution of the politician who is seeking a second term in the White House. The counsel’s team now alleges that the former president was acting as a private citizen when he supposedly and intentionally riled up voters to “storm the Capitol.”
Smith further argued that he was a private citizen who was also a candidate for office, but was not, in fact, acting as the president at the time of the riots. Trump, on the other hand, says that he was acting in his official capacity and therefore should have his charges dropped, per the Supreme Court’s immunity precedent.
