It was given – even before the “serial” criminal prosecution against him Donald Trump – that the face of the former US president will play a key role in the media and political life in the race for the Republican nomination ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

Trump is already using the “momentum” of his prosecution as an opportunity to bring slogans from the past back on the agenda (see the Make America Great Again revival) but also as the perfect excuse to be presented again as “persecuted” by the “political establishment”.

However, recently, when the case of Trump’s criminal prosecution for financing porn star Stormy Daniels received a lot of publicity in the media, there were many voices – even within the Republican Party. – who believed that the excessive promotion of the ex-president creates “conditions of 2016” on the US political scene.

“It feels like we’re living in a goddamn 2016”

“We are experiencing déjà vu,” said Terry Sullivan, a central figure in Marco Rubio’s 2016 re-election campaign. “Trump has monopolized the media and that limits his competition,” Sullivan said in a statement, citing a Politico report.

The examples are clear. While the American and world community watched the new “adventures” of Donald Trump, Nikki Haley “complained” that no one is now dealing with the issue of immigration due to the excessive promotion of Trump’s “political drama”, his journey as a former secretary of state. State Mike Pompeo in Ukraine hasn’t spoken to the media – except for a few executive reports – while Ron DeSandis has been content to resurrect his feud with Disney during his public appearances.

As Politico derisively comments, on the same day that Trump was hearing the charges against him in court, the Florida governor posed with puppies at a pet adoption event.

“Feels like we’re living in the goddamn 2016“, – says a Republican official supporting De Sandis, and wonders: “Is there anything else that can absorb as much” political oxygen “in the US as Donald Trump?”. He himself answers: “I don’t Think”.

Indeed, for Republicans, the atmosphere has begun to smell strongly of the 2016 primaries. David Kochel, a “veteran” Republican presidential campaign, tells Politico that “the Trump case is a really big story, but it was covered by the media, like it was about the start of the Iraq War.” or how the O.J. Simpson case was covered.” At the same time, according to him, until the organization of the debate between the Republican candidates, Trump will continue to be the absolute protagonist.

Within the new political landscape shaped by the Trump prosecution, the next few days will be a critical test of the strategy pursued by the former president’s “rivals”. Nikki Haley, unaffected by the Trump case, will continue her frequent events in “key” neighborhoods, while DeSandis will continue to solicit donations that will bolster his campaign by presenting himself as a more low-key version of Donald Trump. DeSandis’ immediate plans include a visit to Israel, a trip that has its own semiotics for all presidential candidates.

However, several people close to DeSandis point out that members of his team are not bothered by Trump’s “aggressive” presence and media coverage, as they believe in the plan they are following.

“Headaches” of Republicans on the way to the presidential election

In the end, though, how favorable can developments on the Trump front be for Republicans as the climate gets more pre-election?

CNN’s analysis acknowledges that the former president’s prosecution puts him in a stronger position than ever to run for the Republican nomination, but now Republicans must overcome other major hurdles to the 2024 presidential election.

For example, on the day of the Trump trial in Manhattan, Democratic-backed Janet Protasevich celebrated her victory in the Wisconsin Supreme Court election. Similarly, in Chicago, 47-year-old Brandon Johnson was elected mayor of a city with a left-wing progressive agenda.

The above results are just a sampling of the highest performing Democratic or close Democratic candidates, with local samples more positive even compared to 2020, the year Joe Biden was elected. “This trend may also bode well for Democrats in 2024,” the CNN article comments.

A stroke of luck that cannot yet be based on President Biden’s correspondingly high popularity ratings. On the contrary, Biden has long seen his approval ratings stagnate and remain stagnant.. In essence, this means that the political parameters that could play a decisive role in the battle for the presidency surpass both Biden’s stable and limited positive effect, but also any conservative current that Trump can re-form.

One of these parameters is still considered the abortion ban case that was the deciding factor in Wisconsin’s elections for supporting a candidate like Protasevich, who is fighting for their legalization. In 2023, both the impact of Trump’s “adventure” and issues like abortion still seem to be central to Americans’ political crisis.

And while CNN estimates that the above political data could put Trump and Republicans at a disadvantage, a series of polls released last Wednesday showed that the showdown between Donald Trump and Joe Biden seems unresolved today.

The New York Times article’s “prediction” that there is good reason to believe there will be days in the coming months when the former president will be in the public eye more than the current one seems the safest at the moment.

With coverage from CNN, Politico, NYT