Trump's extraordinary run sets up RNC for the ages
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Photo illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
MILWAUKEE — Less than 48 hours after surviving an assassination attempt, Donald Trump was gifted a legal ruling that vanquished the classified documents prosecution against him.
Why it matters: You couldn't script a more extraordinary stretch of events to open the Republican National Convention here, where Trump will accept the GOP nomination this week seemingly at the peak of his powers.
Zoom in: Judge Aileen Cannon stunned legal experts Monday morning by embracing a long-shot argument proposed by Trump's lawyers — that special counsel Jack Smith's appointment was unconstitutional.
- The ruling, which certainly will be appealed, rolled back nearly 30 years of special counsel precedent and erased an indictment widely seen as the most straightforward of the four that Trump has faced.
- Trump celebrated the ruling and called for the dismissal of every civil and criminal case against him, citing the need for national unity — even as he assailed Democrats for perpetrating "witch hunts" against him.
The big picture: Trump's remarkable run began with last month's presidential debate, which triggered a meltdown over President Biden's age that continues to consume the Democratic Party.
- Trump sat and watched, relatively restrained, as momentum built for Democrats to oust Biden as their nominee — quietly thrilled that the 81-year-old president continued to stand his ground.
- The worst-case scenario for Democrats ensued: Biden was weakened and the party was fractured. Poor polling drove the Cook Political Report to move six states toward Trump in its Electoral College ratings.
Four days after the debate, the Supreme Court delivered Trump a huge victory by ruling that presidents have immunity from prosecution for "official acts."
- That gave Trump new fuel to challenge the legality of his criminal cases, including his hush money conviction in New York.
- Judge Cannon cited Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' concurring opinion in the immunity case several times in her ruling tossing out Trump's classified documents charges.
Then, on Saturday evening, the election again was upended when a would-be assassin's bullet whizzed by Trump's head — grazing his ear and altering the course of American history.
- Photos of the former president pumping his fist defiantly, blood running down his face, became instantly iconic.
- Biden and Democrats paused their campaigning to condemn the assassination attempt, which drew an outpouring of sympathy and even celebrity endorsements for Trump.
Between the lines: With his rival's momentum soaring, Biden is under pressure to balance civility and peaceful disagreement with his campaign's central message that Trump is a threat to democracy.
- Progressive media is facing the same dilemma: MSNBC pulled its flagship program "Morning Joe" from the air on Monday out of concern that a guest could say something inappropriate about Trump's shooting, CNN reports.
- In the meantime, Trump and Republicans will have the stage to themselves all week. Networks carry the GOP convention in primetime, which typically leads to a polling bump.
The bottom line: Many Democrats have long accepted that Trump will not be defeated in court. The last few weeks have some resigned to the likelihood that they won't defeat him at the ballot box, either.
