Former President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, became the first former president to face criminal charges after his first case, but he most recently became the first to have a booking photo, or a mugshot, taken. Trump faces four different criminal cases, all of which include the “Jan. 6 Insurrection case” in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the “Georgia Election Interference case” in the Georgia state court, “The Classified Documents Case” in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida and the “Hush Money Case” in the New York state court.
Trump’s most recent case in Georgia for interfering with the 2020 presidential election led to his arrest at the Fulton County Jail on Aug. 24. 2023, and then released on a $200,000 bond. Trump was arrested alongside 18 of his co-defendants, including big names in politics, such as the former mayor of New York City and one of Trump’s lawyers, Rudy Guiliani. Trump has questioned the charges of his counterparts, claiming that they didn’t need to be included.
“Yes, I do think Trump and his counterparts should be arrested because people need to be held accountable for their actions,” sophomore Mya Champion said. “It has been over 7 years since Trump has actually received punishment for breaking the law.”
In the Georgia election case, Trump and his 18 co-defendants were arrested for allegedly attempting to overturn the results of Georgia’s 2020 presidential election. The basis for the charges is that Trump called Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, and encouraged him to “find” 11,780 votes- which happened to be just the number of Georgia votes that would make Trump victorious over Biden.
Since Trump declined to participate in the most recent Republican debate, stating that “the public knows who I am & what a successful Presidency I had,” the effect of his Georgia arrest on his 2024 presidential campaign isn’t known yet as he couldn’t speak on his charges.
“While the first two cases against Trump in New York and Florida helped his poll numbers, I think that the two most recent cases against him in Washington D.C. and Georgia have and will continue to become a drag on his campaign,” senior David May said. “We can see post-debate that candidates such as Ron DeSantis have started to make slight gains on him, and I think that will continue as long as the legal action continues against Trump.”
However, not everyone thinks this arrest will have an effect on his campaign at all.
“I’m not sure it’s going to make a big difference, honestly,” history teacher Stephanie Amidon said. “I think people have their opinions on him one way or another and even some of the candidates at the GOP debate last week said even if he is convicted, they’d still support him as a candidate. I know both parties are definitely profiting from his arrest and the mugshot materials being bought and sold so I am not sure [how it will affect his campaign].”
