PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The end of the summer is turning out to be busy for former President Donald Trump. A defamation lawsuit and four criminal indictments are making demands on his time that overlap with his presidential campaign efforts.
Many Republicans looking to take on President Joe Biden next year are getting ready for their party’s first debate, on Aug. 23, in Milwaukee. Trump, the party frontrunner, has other plans: He will sit for an online interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, according to a report in the New York Times — snubbing and possibly upstaging the first Republican primary debate.
That, plus his various court obligations, is a lot to juggle, points out Dr. Bill Rosenberg, a political science professor at Drexel University.
“He doesn't really have a choice about attending his arraignment in Georgia. He along with the other 18 defendants have to present themselves and go before a judge,” Rosenberg said.
“In terms of the debate, he does have a choice. He can either go or not go.”
A New York federal judge has ruled against a request from Trump’s lawyers to mothball the 2019 civil claims by a New York columnist who says the former president raped her in 1996 — increasing the likelihood that Trump will face the defamation lawsuit on Jan. 15, just as primary season begins.
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Meanwhile, Trump faces four criminal indictments elsewhere. In two cases, he was accused of seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. He also faces a classified documents case in Florida and charges that he helped arrange a payoff to porn actor Stormy Daniels to silence her before the 2016 election. He has denied all charges.
Rosenberg says with every new indictment, Trump seems to gain Republican support — but primary debates have become increasingly important in recent election cycles.
“It may basically serve as a way that the public is able to understand how these candidates hold up because the public gets a sense of the strength of that candidate.”
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The Associated Press contributed to this this report.