During a discussion on Fox News this Sunday, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) predicted that the progression of Trump’s criminal proceedings would spur a distancing from the former president among prospective voters in the lead-up to this year’s presidential election.
Massie singled out the criminal case in New York stemming from a payoff from before the 2016 election to Stormy Daniels, a woman with whom Trump was accused of having an affair. The charges there concern Trump’s alleged responsibility in falsifying business records related to covering for the large payment made.
“We’re going to be talking about the finer points of whether you can pay a porn star with your campaign money or whether you should write it off as a business expense,” Massie said. “The lawsuit itself is ridiculous, but the underlying facts aren’t disputed, and I think people are going to kind of recoil from that when all that stuff starts coming out this summer. And the polls that show him beating Biden, those are going to switch very quickly.” Even at present, the portrait of the race drawn from polling is mixed, with surveys switching in terms of who’s in the lead in the expected rematch later this year between Joe Biden and Trump.
Trial in the New York case that Massie was discussing seems likely dependent on the scheduling of further federal proceedings against Trump, with the March date for his January 6-related trial currently on hold amid appeals.
The Biden campaign is already preparing for another face-off against Trump, having released another new ad this weekend that this time highlights the former president’s record of evident confusion on basic facts. The video uses recent footage of Trump trying to discuss California Democratic Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi but referring repeatedly to Nikki Haley instead.
Trump also seems largely unconcerned about even a possibility of him losing the GOP’s presidential primary. In a recent interview on Fox News with primary voting in New Hampshire happening this week, presidential primary challenger Ron DeSantis — currently Florida’s governor — outright predicted a Trump win.
Watch Massie below, via journalist Aaron Rupar:
MASSIE: We’re gonna be talking about the finer points of if you can pay a porn star with your company money or whether you should write it off … people are gonna recoil from that when that stuff starts coming out, & the polls showing Trump beating Biden, those are gonna switch. pic.twitter.com/SNt4HkgKhM
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 21, 2024
