You don't have to be a fan of Donald Trump, or even plan to vote for him, to understand his effect on the left. Their intense feelings about the former president are a mix of hatred and fear. Hatred because he drove them absolutely insane before and during his time in office, and fear because their hatred led them to consistently lash out against him.
And I don't just mean in the media. You and everyone else watched as they waged shocking lawfare against Trump, openly weaponizing the justice system against him in order to paint him as the supervillain of the century and make themselves look like justice-seeking superheroes.
Going unspoken, however, is the fact that they are terrified of what he might do should he attain power again, and not just to the Democrat agenda, but to the people who wronged him.
(READ: Breaking Trump, Breaking America)
It's this obvious fear and loathing that has attracted many an American voter to Trump. His polling numbers among the GOP specifically remain high, and out of reach of the other candidates as of this writing. This might change after the first debate, but likely not enough to make Trump worry about losing his spot at the top.
As I've covered before, Trump's strength isn't necessarily in his campaigning this go-round, but in how much the left attacks him. He's the only candidate who could sit back and do nothing, and still come out on top thanks to the bad PR some of the most hated people in America foist on him.
(READ: The Left Hasn't Figured Out That It's Trump's Best Friend)
It also reveals that the left considers Trump their current top threat and the defacto GOP nominee. During his interview with Tucker, Trump noted that if he wasn't getting slammed and attacked by the left's media and legal machine, then someone else would be getting the same treatment. He's not wrong.
The bottom line is that his infamy with the left is only increasing his fame, and not just on the right. His fans run the spectrum, and when he's announced to be somewhere, they show up to support him.
Interestingly, the place he's due to show up next isn't a rally, but a jailhouse.
Trump is set to surrender himself at the Fulton County Jail in Georgia on Thursday evening. There he will have his mugshot taken and go through motions that Fulton County DA Fani Willis will parade around national news outlets and campaign as if she possesses Trump's scalp.
While Willis might have everything to gain from this little dog and pony show, it will ultimately hurt the party she belongs to. The optics only look good to radical leftists and dyed-in-the-wool Democrats. To everyone else, Trump looks like a rebel leader and a martyr.
Case in point, crowds of Trump supporters are gathering outside the jailhouse to cheer on their leader.
And the crowd isn't small. There are people literally tailgating the side of the road.
Supporters of former President Donald Trump await his arrival at the Fulton County Jail pic.twitter.com/T4bWlBH1gA
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) August 24, 2023
It gets worse. As the Daily Wire initially covered, a group called "Blacks for Trump" has also popped up to show their support:
The show of support for Trump included a group calling themselves “Blacks for Trump” who were seen holding American flags and signs supporting the former president. When asked about Trump’s latest indictment, one man said “it’s a bunch of bulls***” and called Willis “a puppet for the white liberal.”
“I’m here to support Trump because they been doing black men like this for decades,” he said. “I know Trump is innocent. I support Trump against the two-tier justice system. Fani Willis is full of s***.”
‘Blacks for Trump’ group outside the Fulton County Jail ahead of Trump’s surrender in Atlanta today pic.twitter.com/bG1PIpMY8P
— Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) August 24, 2023
The optics here should absolutely worry Democrats, especially since their leader's last show in public saw him greeted with less-than-friendly words and gestures in Maui.
Maui residents are lining the road amid Biden's visit — with signs saying "he's too late," "he should've been here much earlier," and "actions speak louder than words." pic.twitter.com/Qnu6j3ogTt
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 21, 2023
To be sure, a supportive crowd at a jailhouse doesn't a presidential win make, but it is a popularity contest and the support on the ground shows that Trump is winning that contest. This is going to require some damage control by the media, but it might be in vain. Once Trump's mugshot is released, it's going to be used as promotional material by the people. Trump's fans, meme makers, and Biden haters alike will spread it around, and not insultingly.
The Democrats have a PR nightmare on their hands that they can't stop building on, and every time they add another brick, they add another Trump fan. If this pattern holds, the difference in on-the-ground support between him and Biden will be impossible to ignore or make excuses for.
