Amna: With the date set for
former president trump's federal
trial, his Republican opponents
are hoping for some new
attention from voters and
possibly a post-debate bounce.
Here to discuss it all are
Tamara Keith of NPR and erin
Haines of the 19th.
Amy Walter is away.
Great to see you both.
The judge rejected Mr. Trump's
request to delay the start of
the trial.
We have a trial date set for
March 4 of 2024.
By that date, a few states will
have already held their
primaries or caucuses to take a
look at the calendar because the
very next day, if that March 4
date holds, is super Tuesday and
15 more states will hold their
primaries and caucuses, those
shown in yellow right there.
When you look at that map and
what is at stake in this trial,
do you see the trial having any
impact on that day?
Tamara: Probably not because
Iowa and New Hampshire will have
already happened and the
potential exists if former
president trump, who has a
prohibitive lead in all of the
primary polls among Republicans,
if he winds in Iowa -- wins in
Iowa and New Hampshire, super
Tuesday may not be that relevant
and it is not entirely clear
that the trial date will stick,
that that will be the date.
If it is, it is the date that
the trial begins so what changes
exactly by the time people are
voting the very next day?
Amna: What about you?
How are you looking at it?
Are there any states he would be
keeping a particularly close eye
on to see if that trial or any
news does have some kind of
impact?
Errin: When I think is that, you
know, certainly agreeing with
Tamara's point that super
Tuesday could be an
opportunity to send a message
coming out of super Monday if
that schedule holds with
president trump in a courtroom
just the day before this really
consequential election.
You are looking at dates like
Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee,
Virginia, all of whom have
significant numbers of black
voters.
We have to remember that at the
center of all of the former
president's legal battles is
this scheme that was an attempt
to disenfranchise black voters
as illegitimate participants in
our democracy so I think those
dynamics could loom over super
Tuesday.
You have the former president
really saying that he is a
victim in all of this, also
trying to get his supporters to
align themselves with his legal
woes so they could also be
looking to send a message of
strong support for the former
president.
He is seeking that at the ballot
box with donations, etc.
So this could galvanize voters
in both parties in a number of
states that are having primaries
that day.
Amna: Much of that Republican
race depends on the rest of the
GOP field.
We all noted last week's debate
was the first chance for the
candidates who are not Donald
Trump to try and break through,
break away from the pack.
We have poles coming out in
reaction to that debate when
Republican primary voters were
asked who they believed won.
Here is what they said.
27%, Ramaswamy.
12% for Mike pence.
11% for Nikki Haley.
22% said no one.
What do these numbers tell you
about what Republican primary
voters are looking for?
Errin: No one performed better
than Ron Desantis and everyone
except for Ramaswamy, who did a
real good job of drawing
attention to himself.
It is not clear whether he did a
really good job of persuading
Republican primary voters that
they should pick him over trump,
for instance, because that same
poll found that 50%, I believe,
of Republican voters support
trump.
And want trump to be the
nominee.
All of these candidates were up
there fighting for relevance
while trump was stealing the
show by getting a mugshot that
his campaign is selling on
shirts, selling with an
autograph.
To go back to what Aaron was
saying, really using this as a
powerful tool to get his
supporters and Republican voters
to rally around him.
Amna: That crucial point here,
50% of primary voters still say
they plan to back Donald Trump
that is his lowest number to
date and it is a 5% drop from
before the debate.
What kind of impact do you think
not being on that stage had on
him?
Tamara: We saw the impact it had
on that stage when the majority
of the candidates, when asked if
they would sit former president
trump even if he was convicted
of a crime held their hands high
and said they would absolutely
do that.
What that poll did not ask his
of the people who were on stage,
who won that debate?
The person who won the debate
was clearly former president
trump.
He was mentioned by name several
times but not necessarily in a
negative way.
People continuing to show their
support for him, for policies
that are similar to his even as
they try and distinguish
themselves from other people who
were on the stage and this did
not deter any of his voters or
persuade them in the direction
of any other candidates to any
large degree and his closest
contender, governor Desantis,
was really overshadowed by the
likes of Ramaswamy or even Nikki
Haley who had a breakout night
that has given her some momentum
coming out of that debate.
Former president trump is the
one who won that debate and
proved his argument that he does
not even need to be on the stage
to be impactful and continue to
hold sway with his base and the
Republican party at right now.
Amna: You mentioned Ron Desantis
who remains second-place to Mr.
Trump.
I want to ask you about some
news over the weekend.
He attended a vigil in
Jacksonville where a white
gunman had killed three black
people.
This is the reaction Ron
Desantis got at that vigil.
Take a listen.
[Crowd brewing]
-- [Crowd booing]
Amna: This is the reaction he's
getting from fellow floridians.
What does this say to you?
>> I think that it says that
this is a crowd, this is a
state.
Black for meridians --
floridians hold governor
Desantis partly responsible for
what happened in Jacksonville
because you have this incident
occurring and if a child in
Florida were to go to school
today this week and asked, you
know, what were the dynamics
that contributed to that
shooting happening, a teacher
might not even really be able to
explain to a child based on the
policies that governor Desantis
has championed.
It might be considered woke to a
claim to a child what happened
over the weekend.
May be discussing the March on
Washington for example might be
ok but another anniversary that
we are marking today is the 68th
anniversary of Emmett till being
murdered which is not something
that schoolchildren are supposed
to learn about because it makes
people uncomfortable.
What really, you sound governor
Desantis obviously could not --
you saw governor Desantis
obviously could not address this
horrible tragedy that happened
in Jacksonville but at the same
time, I think somebody who has
been discouraging floridians and
would like to discourage the
rest of the country from
learning about the uglier part
of our country's racist history.
You know, for somebody like that
to show up and try to show their
support for the community, you
know, him being met with those
boos was not necessarily a
surprising reaction for folks
who have been following the
racial tension around a lot of
the rhetoric and policy that he
has been espousing.
>> Sometimes showing up and
getting booed is part of being
the governor, part of leading a
state.
Governor Desantis is facing this
hurricane that is headed towards
his state.
This will be another opportunity
for him to lead and for him to
show that he's governing but
governing is not always easy.
Amna: That is proven true.
Our thoughts are with the
families of those affected in
Jacksonville and everyone in
Florida who is bracing for that
storm.
Thank you very much.
>> Thank you.