president's defense to avoid
antagonizing his loyal
supporters. CNN's Jeff Zeleny
has more now. They plan to run
against him. The winners get to
make policy. The losers go home.
And believed Republicans were
ready to turn the page. If
you're tired of losing, put your
trust in a new generation at the
end of a historic week in
American politics, the only
crime that I have committed is
to fearlessly defend our nation
from those who seek to destroy
it. Donald Trump's top GOP
challengers are suddenly on his
side after falling into line and
blasting criminal charges
against the former president.
You see this guy in Manhattan?
And this district attorney.
They're weaponizing the
prosecutorial power to advance a
political agenda. Maybe it's
targeting a politician. They
don't like Republican rivals
fear their opening against trump
may have closed a bit after
Manhattan district attorney
Alvin brags indictment on 34
counts of felony crimes in new
York state. No matter who you
are. Prompted a storm of outrage
even from some of trump's
fiercest critics, like senator
Mitt Romney, who called it a
dangerous precedent, saying, I
believe president trump's
character and conduct make him
unfit for office. Even so, I
believe the New York prosecutor
has stretched to reach felony
criminal charges in order to fit
a political agenda. With
Republican wagons circling
around trump, or at least
against his indictment. It's
unclear when the window to
forcefully challenges candidacy
will open again or who will dare
to try to liberal prosecutor
that's doing political revenge
against a former president. I
mean, that's not a precedent
that you want to have. Not long
ago, Florida governor
Ron Desantis did tiptoe around a
critique of trump's predicament
with stormy Daniels. I don't
know what goes into paying hush
money to a porn star to secure
silence over some type of
alleged affair. I just I can't
speak to that before quickly
dropping any references to porn
stars and hush money and simply
going on the attack against the
New York prosecutor. When asked
Friday whether the indictment
influenced his plans to run
Desantis answered like this.
It's affected me in the sense
that it's reinforced this
problem we have in our country
where we have the political left
weaponizing the rule of law,
actually abandoning the rule of
law by weaponizing it and using
against people they don't like
and that needs to stop in this
country. Unorthodox presidential
primary becomes even more so
advisors to Republican campaigns
tell CNN the biggest risk of all
is to get crosswise with voters
deeply loyal to trump, who once
again is dominating and
overshadowing the race. A case
was brought only to interfere
with the upcoming 2024 election.
And it should be dropped
immediately. Even though former
president trump has effectively
frozen this Republican race into
place, at least for now, the
show must go on former south
Carolina governor Nikki Haley,
who's running against trump is
going to Iowa next week to
campaign and senator Tim Scott
is also dipping his toe into the
waters traveling to Iowa and new
Hampshire as he decides whether
to jump into this race. There is
no doubt the 2024 campaign has
been changed dramatically by the
trump indictment. It's an open
question, though, if that trump
exhaustion out there among so
many Republican voters does
still exist. Jeff Zeleny, CNN,
Washington and Jeff. Thank you
for that report. Let's discuss
now with CNN political analyst
in princeton university
historian and professor Julian
zelizer. Julian, good to see
you. Typically I come to you for
some historical example that
informs this moment. I don't
think there is one for a primary
that now includes a former
president who's been indicted,
but let's look at the latest CNN
poll here. Six out of 10.
Americans support the indictment
, roughly that 62% of intense
independent supported so trump
is holding strong in the party,
but within the party how much
does electability beyond the
primary matter to these voters?
Well as of now, that doesn't
seem to be the top consideration
of former president running for
reelection indicted and he ends
the week more popular than ever
before. He's rallied Republicans
around him, he is crafted his
message in some ways of once
again, him fighting the
establishment, and it seems that
least now Republican voters are
more focused on that then
questions of general election
electability primaries come
first and primary is usually
determined, uh, where this all
goes. And how about the lesson
of 2016, though, when
Republicans after at least those
anti trump Republican candidates
um, said that maybe they waited
too long to just square up with
trump directly and take him on.
Is that supposed to be happening
at this point in the process
should be. We'd be waiting
deeper into the summer into the
fall. Well I don't know when
that's going to happen. I think
it's like waiting for Goodell.
It's just not coming. It didn't
come in 2016, and I'm not
convinced that's going to happen
now. I think they are more
scared of him now than they were
back in the 15 4016 period. He's
more formidable. He has a bigger
platform. So I don't I don't
expect many of them to go after
him. The question is what
happens if there are more
indictments on issues that are
more politically problematic,
including the case in Georgia,
and so that's really where we're
going to get a gauge if there's
ever going to be any serious,
never trumpism within the
Republican party, all right,
let's turn to the Democrats. Now
president Biden obviously has
not yet announced reelection
privately, CNN's reporting is
that he says he is definitely
running. However he's not chosen
to campaign manager. He's not
chosen the location of his
campaign headquarters. The date
of the announcement is still up
in the air, although he says
he's definitely running. Is
there some byproduct of the
delay of the announcement from
the president? Although people
know it's coming? Well I mean,
it creates space for a Democrat
to potentially step in the more
you wait and to say that they
want to mount the primary
challenge. But as of now, the
democratic field is pretty quiet
and I think they're waiting for
him to announce, even if it
comes a little later than they
expect on paper. Despite
questions about his stamina and
age, he's still remains a pretty
formidable incumbent just on
paper, and I don't think the
delay is really going to have a
big effect on his candidacy.
Your latest piece for CNN .com
focuses on the supreme court
justice Clarence Thomas
propublica reported this week
that he has traveled for decades
lavishly. Ah on the dime of mega
donor Republican supporter who
he also calls a friend. He
released it a lengthy statement
saying that he reported as he
told he was supposed to those
disclosure rules are changing,
and he will abide by those. He's
not recused himself from the
January 6th cases, although his
wife has tried to undermine
elections. Um this is a lifetime
appointment. So what do we do
with all this information there
likely will not be any
impeachment of justice. Thomas.
So what now? Well look, there is
the Thomas question the question
about what happens to him. But
there's the revelation. For many
Americans. There are no ethics
codes guiding the supreme court
justices. A lot of this is about
informal guardrails and justice
is making the right decision.
And I think what the story
reveals is there's a lot of room
not to make the right decision,
so I think there needs to be a
conversation about the supreme
court. And if not the supreme
court congress through
legislation creating some form
of ethics codes as other federal
judges are subject to so that
this kind of behavior is not
permissible, and if it happens,
there's there are penalties, but
we don't have that right now. So
there is actually a lot of
space. For justice Thomas tip,
engage in this kind of
relationship, but I think we
need to look at the structures
of the codes, not just at the
individual and as we had a guest
on yesterday from fixed the
court who says that he wishes
actually there was more liberal
justice who did the same thing
so it wouldn't be in a partisan
framework that these rules could