Unless you get all of your news from MSNBC and some (though not all) of the people at CNN, you’ve already seen what a walking disaster the case being brought against former President Donald Trump is shaping up to be. Legal experts from both the left and the right have opined that the “zombie case” would have virtually no chance of moving forward and obtaining a conviction anywhere outside of a Manhattan courtroom and it may not even survive there. Even the editorial board of the Washington Post was forced to concede that the case looked totally dodgy. However, the intention on the part of District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his supporters was clear. This was never about any sort of violation of the law. The intention was to derail Trump from running for and possibly winning the presidency. So how is that working out for them? Well, a lot of Americans responded, but not in the way the liberal mob probably hoped. Trump raised more than four million dollars in the first 24 hours after the indictment was announced. (NY Post)

Former President Donald Trump raised more than $4 million toward his presidential run in the 24 hours since he was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury, his campaign announced Friday.

“This incredible surge of grassroots contributions confirms that the American people see the indictment of President Trump as a disgraceful weaponization of our justice system by a Soros-funded prosecutor,” a press release from the former president’s campaign read.

The campaign noted that more than 25% of the donations came from first-time Trump donors, and the average contribution was $34.

This wasn’t even close to a fundraising record for Trump, but it definitely wasn’t too shabby considering that we’re still nearly two years away from the election and the primary has barely gotten off the ground. As noted in the excerpt above, a huge number of those donations came from people who had never donated to Trump before and the majority of the contributions were in small amounts, suggesting a predominantly working-class, grassroots army of people who were outraged at Bragg.

As others have already pointed out, the entire purpose of this scheme was to get a mugshot of Trump and, if they’re lucky, a picture of him in handcuffs. (The Secret Service has already vetoed the idea of handcuffing him.) But I 100% agree with those who are saying that this plan is about to backfire on the left in a spectacular fashion. If a mugshot of Donald Trump emerges, you already know that he’s going to print it out on t-shirts, ballcaps and posters and sell them by the tens of millions. Heck, we might give a few away as contest prizes for our VIP members.

It’s too soon to have a full polling cycle since the indictment was announced, but just the discussion of it possibly happening appeared to have pushed the numbers around. In the past week, from March 24 through 29, three – polls – in a row showed Donald Trump leading Ron DeSantis by anywhere from 25 to 30 points and hovering at or above 50%. Nobody else is rising above the background noise level. Granted, DeSantis isn’t even officially in the race yet and he could see a bump once he announces (assuming he does). But at least for the moment, the Trump train appears to be rolling again and the outrage people are expressing over this witch hunt will almost certainly dump more coal into the engine.

I don’t want anyone to take this as an endorsement of Donald Trump as the nominee. First of all, since I’m not a Republican I don’t get a vote in the primary. (I’m a member of the Conservative Party of New York. They had Trump on their ballot line in the last two elections and will do so again if he’s the nominee this time.) Just as in 2016, I’ll wait and see what the full field of candidates looks like and hear what they have to say. But also, just as in that election, I will support the eventual GOP nominee 100% rather than choose another disastrous four years of Joe Biden or (God help us all) Kamala Harris.

But I will also say that watching the blatant weaponization of our justice system and law enforcement, along with the unequal application of the law when it comes to Donald Trump in particular and conservatives in general really has me grinding my teeth. And it’s left me feeling even more sympathetic toward the Bad Orange Man than usual. I may even be ordering a hat next week. So rock on, and forward we go into the breech. Don’t let them get away with this.