Trump’s Antics Effectively Handing Biden A Second Term – OpEd

By Dalia Al-Aqidi*

It seems that former US President Donald Trump does not want to run his 2024 election campaign properly, without causing a negative uproar at the national and international levels and prompting fears of violence that his loyalists may initiate.

Trump this month claimed on his own social media platform, Truth, that he was expecting to be arrested on March 21 in connection with the allegation that he paid hush money to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Calling on his followers to take action and “protest and take the country back” brought to mind images of his supporters storming the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to stop the certification of the 2020 election results and deny Joe Biden his constitutional right.

“WE JUST CAN’T ALLOW THIS ANYMORE. THEY’RE KILLING OUR NATION AS WE SIT BACK & WATCH. WE MUST SAVE AMERICA! PROTEST, PROTEST, PROTEST,” he posted in all caps to stress the urgency and significance of his warning.

Away from the legal matter and what Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation could reveal, this case has profound political and security dimensions that may be the reason for the outbreaks of violence seen in several US states, in addition to Trump obtaining comprehensive support as he seeks to win the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential election.

Meanwhile, the former president continues to attack the district attorney in various ways, which is a crime itself, according to US laws. In a different post, Trump said that Bragg was unwilling to do the right thing by closing the case, adding: “The whole country sees what’s going on, and they’re not going to take it anymore. They’ve had enough!” He reiterated his old narrative that the Democrats had spied on his campaign, rigged the 2020 elections and falsely impeached him. Then he shared an article with a photo of him holding a baseball bat next to the Manhattan DA’s image, which sparked anger and fear simultaneously.

On Friday, Bragg was threatened with assassination in a letter containing a nonhazardous white powder. The message said: “ALVIN: I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!” With the continuation of his investigation, it is expected that the number of threats will increase and we may see actual attempts against the DA.

More demonstrations are also expected, which may turn violent in response to the calls of the former president, who has begun to exploit these events for his personal benefit without considering the country’s interests or security.

During the first three days after his initial post, Trump raised $1.5 million from grassroots donations, according to his 2024 campaign.

The biggest loser of all is the Grand Old Party.

After the events of Capitol Hill and Trump’s unwillingness to call for a stop to the violence, a large number of moderate Republicans stood against him, and that situation is being repeated one more time.

This group has been seeking the right candidate to defeat President Biden in 2024 to save the country from the far-left ideology that has been destroying the US for the past three years. Trump does not care about this group and has tried to destroy these politicians as punishment. Next year, there will likely not be enough Republicans to vote for these politicians, since Trump has succeeded in dividing the party and its supporters.

Not all Republicans believe in violence and scams, but those who do not will face difficulties in getting the support of their party.

Trump had a chance to redeem himself and unite the party with the power he has on the ground, but he chose himself over his country.

At the same time, Biden and his Democratic Party have never been closer to a second term than they are now. They will keep pushing the former president to the edge to benefit from his predictable reactions, ignoring the country’s interests.

History will remember this dark era the United States of America is going through, whose developments and repercussions we follow daily. And regardless of the outcome, this political crisis will highly likely have a negative impact on US allies across the globe.

• Dalia Al-Aqidi is a senior fellow at the Center for Security Policy. Twitter: @DaliaAlAqidi