former president Donald Trump lashed out Tuesday night following his historic arraignment in a lower Manhattan Court where he pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in a fiery speech to his supporters at his Mar-A-Lago Resort Trump aired a list of grievances about the investigations against him and I never thought anything like this could happen in America never thought it could happen the only crime that I have committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it [Applause] this fake case was brought only to interfere with the upcoming 2024 election and it should be dropped immediately immediately well many analysts saw the speech as a campaign moment blurring the lines between Trump's Court battles and political opponents it certainly registered on National polls among his supporters and in the millions of dollars in campaign contributions that began rolling in the moment Trump announced a possible indictment for more on the political Fallout I'm joined by Democratic strategist Julia verginski and GOP strategist Chris Russell Julie Chris good to see you both thank you both for being here Chris let me ask you we have an indicted former president who's now running again for president as the Republican front-runner does this situation move him closer or further away from his supporters well I listened to his hardcore supporters it moves him closer right they're going to Rally around circle the wagons and rally around the flag I think what it means more broadly is remains to be seen I think part of it that is rallying supporters to this and even people who are not necessarily supporters is the fact that this is a flimsy case I mean uh you know D.A Bragg has gone in and and picked a a legal case that many people believe is fabricated for the most part if not a real stretch uh his lead witness is a guy who's a convicted felon perjurer um he's trying to create law out of thin air in some cases statute of limitations may have passed even if the law holds up so I think it's the wrong case too and I think the fact that it looks flimsy and you're hearing people like Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush and legal analysts on every cable station say that or at least a significant majority that I've read this morning and seen um that that also doesn't give confidence to people and it also I think gets his supporters more energized to fight back does it though become harder Julie because this is not the only case a legal woe that Trump is going to have to face um we heard last night in his speech at Mar-A-Lago it seems like the Georgia case is really on his mind um does it get harder to paint himself as a victim or as someone who's being personally attacked when there are multiple possibly Federal accounts here well there's a massive disconnect right between what Donald Trump and Maga and the adjacent media ecosystem that supports the Maga movement believe and what the rest of the country believes and that's not my opinion that's empirical data from the 2018 election from the 2020 election from the 2022 election and even yesterday from the Wisconsin Supreme Court election more and more the more drama Donald Trump imposes upon the country the less and less swing voters want to vote for him or for the Republican party and the problem for the Republicans and I have great Sympathy for the Republican party which has gotten itself into this mess to some extent by enabling him is that they can't shake him they can't win with him or even with him in the ecosystem but at the same time they can't afford to jettison him because obviously his core support makes up so much of the Republican Party these days so until the scourge of Donald Trump leaves the Republican party I don't know where even moderate Republican candidates can do well it just becomes more and more impossible for them to be able to do well while all the storm and drag is happening around Donald Trump well Chris to Julie's point we saw potential Rivals of trump uniting behind him um whether or not they wanted to uh is unclear but they certainly did is this going to be a campaign focal point for Republicans across the board I'm talking nationally and in New Jersey like I said I think on the merits of this legal case they've had no choice but to Rally around them because it's the right thing to do based on the law and and everyone needs to be treated equally under the law listen on the flip side Democrats have a a president and I assume it uh nominee again who will run again who most of them want a jettison right so our politics is in a very weird place Joe Biden does not have majority support to run again from Democrats if you look at any national poll so I think as the the year progresses here they're saying that this may not come to trial until December if it doesn't get thrown out beforehand it's obviously going to be an issue in the campaign uh whether people in the Republican party at some point say this is enough I want to move on and look to other options it's so early to try to predict that um I appreciate what Julie said in Wisconsin race last night is certainly a good example to cite but this is much bigger than that and I think as more people get into the race right now there's you know all you know president Trump Nikki Haley some minor candidates in the race that have gotten in the sands has had gotten in Tim Scott others as that comes to pass I think that'll crystallize more in the Republican party will have the choice to make but on this case right now I think the Democrats whether they because they can't resist going after Trump or cynically they want him to be the nominee uh this case is is certainly going to Rally supporters around him because of its weakness well I mean Julie we saw already it was somewhere around eight million dollars was was raised for Trump uh since the indictment it also boosted his numbers in polls nationally we haven't had a recent one in in New Jersey here and of course New Jersey voters a bit different than certainly Middle Middle America nationally but does Chris have a point here I mean should Democrats be worried now uh I don't see how this is a downside for Democrats because ultimately the more Donald Trump takes Center Stage the more everybody else Fades into the background the more this becomes a referendum on Donald Trump and he can't help himself uh a normal defendant would have kept his mouth shut on advice of counsel would not be going out there and holding rallies would not be going out and demanding a show fealty from all both his supporters and his political opponents of the Republican party but nevertheless that's what Donald Trump is doing the more he does that the more he holds the Republican Party Hostage to his whims the more this becomes a referendum not on anybody else but on Donald Trump and what Chris has said Is Right Joe Biden does have his political struggles but again the more this is a referendum on Donald Trump and this becomes a contest between the Maga vision for the country and Joe Biden's vision for the country the only the more this helps Democrats and ultimately again if I were the Republican party I would think long and hard about how we got to a place where they enabled and enabled a man who's now holding the rest of them hostage Chris I mean you've worked on number of campaigns are you concerned at all about conversations shifting from crime inflation Joe Biden's record to Trump's legal issues certainly listen I think Republicans do well when when the issues are Forefront not uh personalities uh and in this case you know there are plenty of issues to run against Joe Biden on uh in his again assumed re-election uh to the extent that the campaign becomes consumed with these issues uh today no I wouldn't want to see that um but as as we go forward here unfortunately I think what this potentially does is it's going to lead to more an acceleration of Investigations into Joe Biden to other Democrats and the entire campaign is going to be consumed with these things as a republican yeah I want to see us get back to issues like the economy and record inflation Prime School curriculum uh our foreign policy which is erratic at best uh I would love to see us get back to those issues I think we win on them and a an election where we come to a a Donald Trump Joe Biden rerun that becomes a cult of personality election no I don't like that that for for us and I don't like for the country either I think it's bad for the country I think we can get to a place where we're winning on issues and I still think that's a good possibility as we move into the end of this year and next how's this going to shake up caucuses I mean we know the next hearing is scheduled for December 4th so just Prime Time right before we're set to kick off the Republican primary um how's this going to shake that up is it I'm sorry Julie go ahead no no I was gonna well I think you're never gonna say the same thing which is that nobody knows right I mean nobody knows what's going to happen between now and December nobody knows if Trump is going to get indicted uh by the justice department on the federal level whether he's going to get indicted in the um Fulton County matter down in Georgia and so the problem for republicans and for the rest of us I guess is that we're predicting something sitting here in April of 2023 which is going to be probably a distant memory by the time I roll around to the first Iowa caucus uh for Republicans early next year uh Chris final thoughts quickly listen I I think to the extent the election next year in 2024 is about Joe Biden that is very good for republicans and I'm hopeful that's where the party goes make it about Joe Biden make it about his record if we do that I think we're on a Republican president Chris Russell Julie roginski thank you so much [Music]