Reactions to Trump’s raid: A storm of indignation

The raid on ex-US President Trump in Florida outraged his supporters. They see it as a political campaign by the Democrats. And Trump himself? Experts believe that it could even benefit from the publicity.

Spontaneous demo last night in front of Donald Trump’s luxury property in Florida: Several dozen Trump supporters show their solidarity with the former US President and protest against the search of his premises.

A Trump supporter says, “We know what you’re trying to do, Department of Justice. You’re trying to find some reason why Trump can’t run for re-election.”

Documents belong in the National Archives

The FBI searched Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach yesterday in an unprecedented police operation. US media reports that the raid was related to documents that Trump took with him after the end of his presidency, although they actually belonged in the national archives. It is not clear whether this also includes incriminating material that could lead to further charges against Trump.

The fact is that presidential files have no place in Mar-a-Lago, former director of the National Archives Jason Baron told CNN: “Such top-secret documents – if they become public – could do great harm to national security.”

The so-called Presidential Records Act of 1978 stipulates that all records of a US President must be archived for posterity. Trump is said to have been arguing with the National Archives about this for months. Eventually, the case was handed over to the judiciary, who now enforced the search warrant. Most Republicans reacted angrily to the unannounced raid.

“They are very afraid of Donald Trump”

A veritable storm of indignation erupted on social media.

“The use of government power to persecute political opponents is something we’ve seen many times in Third World Marxist dictatorships, but never in America,” Florida Senator Marco Rubio tweeted.

Lara Trump – the ex-president’s daughter-in-law – speaks on Fox News of a clearly politically motivated action: “Everyone knows why they are doing this, namely because the establishment is very afraid of Donald Trump. He is not one of them, and it is highly likely that he will run for the presidency again in 2024. They are desperately looking for a way to disqualify him.”

Good publicity for Trump?

Trump himself, who was in New York at the time of the raid, called the search a radical left-wing attack by the Democrats.

Trump biographer Michael Antonio believes it is possible that Trump was prepared for the FBI visit. After all, only a short time later he published a kind of election commercial on Truth Social – his social media channel.

Trump is an expert at exploiting any attack on him in his favor, Antonio said on CNN: “He thinks all publicity is good publicity. And the hardcore Trump supporters – 35 percent of the electorate – will be electrified. I think Trump will have a good day today.”

Trump may now announce his candidacy for 2024 earlier than expected. As a presidential candidate, it will be much more difficult to prosecute him.