Justice Juan Merchan has made it clear that he wants to see former President Donald Trump's hush money/falsifying business records trial move along as quickly as possible. Twelve jurors have been seated by early Friday morning, April 19, as five alternate jurors still need to be chosen. And if that goes smoothly, Merchan is hoping that opening arguments can begin as soon as Monday, April 22.
So far, Trump's trial doesn't appear to be hurting him significantly in polls — some of which show the presumptive 2024 GOP presidential nominee with small single-digit leads over incumbent President Joe Biden, while Biden is slightly ahead in others. Nonetheless, the trial is keeping Trump in New York City and preventing him from being able to travel from state to state on the campaign trail.
In an article published on April 19, the Daily Beast's Jake Lahut emphasizes that the trial is turning out to be even more of a burden for Trump's campaign than anticipated.
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"Even before Donald Trump's criminal trial in New York began," Lahut explains, "it was clear that the lengthy and demanding proceedings would fundamentally change his 2024 campaign. But it only took a few days to show that Trump's hush money trial will be even more damaging, more constraining, and more significant than anyone expected."
The reporter continues, "The headlines alone told the story. During the trial's opening week, for instance, Trump arguably drew the most attention for appearing to fall asleep in the courtroom. On Tuesday, The Daily Beast reported he was forced to decline an appearance at a big-money fundraiser in Texas for the House GOP because of the trial schedule — an early glimpse at just how much his party leadership will be limited."
Republican strategist Alex Conant told the Beast that he "sort of underestimated" how much of a "giant time-suck" Trump's trial would be for his campaign.
According to Conant, "The most valuable commodity in any campaign is the candidate's time. It's the only thing you can't get more of. And the fact that he's going to have to spend weeks in the courtroom is time his campaign isn't going to get back."
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Conant pointed out that when Trump has to skip major Republican events because of the trial, his party loses a lot of money.
The GOP strategist told the Beast, "He could be raising six, seven figures pretty regularly at major-dollar events around the country at this point. That's literally what Biden is doing. So, Trump's fundraisers are probably frustrated that because he's in New York, they can't schedule that stuff."
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Read the Daily Beast's full report at this link (subscription required).
