‘It’s Only Strengthened Him’: Julia Manchester on Trump’s Legal Issues and GOP Primary

EXCERPT:

MANCHESTER: “Well, look, for the GOP primary, I think it’s done what Trump’s other legal issues have done. It’s only strengthened him. It’s emboldened him. I mean, he, for all intents and purposes, if assuming he wins South Carolina, he is the presumptive Republican nominee. So he is going to be galvanized. He is going to get energy from this. Now, in the general election, I’m not sure how that plays because there is also polling that would suggest that a conviction — and this wasn’t a conviction. It was a loss. But a conviction in a case could play against Trump. There was an NBC News poll released last week that showed Trump leading Biden by about 5 points. However, when those same voters were asked about Trump’s legal cases and if, you know, would they still vote for him if he was convicted, then Biden led him by 2 points. So, you know, I think we are talking in hypotheticals, anything could happen. But I think I want to hear how the independent voters are approaching this.”