Trump once again became embroiled in controversy after a post on his social media site showed an image (pictured above) of the former president holding a baseball bat beside an image of Alvin Bragg, the controversial Manhattan district attorney who is investigating him.
The image was eventually deleted but the political damage was done.
In a “Meet the Press” interview, Trump attorney Joe Tacopina called it an “ill-advised post” and blamed one of Trump’s “social media people” for posting it.
Washington Times columnist Robert Knight says the bat image came from a previous photo of Trump praising American-made manufacturing but it was obvious what the image was portraying.
“In any case,” Knight says of the former president, “he's allowing his critics to paint him as unhinged – never maturing – and I don't think that helps his cause."
During his presidential campaign, and then his one term in office, Knight says, many Trump’s supporters cheered his take-no-prisoners style. But the newspaper columnist, who himself has praised Trump numerous times, predicts longtime supporters are souring on him after being forced to explain and defend his indefensible behavior so often.
That doesn’t mean, Knight adds, that conservatives and Republicans will stay home in 2024.
“I believe they probably would vote for [Trump] if he is nominee,” Knight tells AFN, “because the alternative is the communist left which is destroying our country before our very eyes."
On her weekday American Family Radio show, former Trump attorney Jenna Ellis made similar comments to her audience unrelated to the bat controversy. Many supporters of the former president know he is the victim of a political witch hunt in Manhattan, she said, so they are eager to vote for him for a second term in the White House.
“There have been some people that I’ve talked to,” she added, “that this is just adding to the Trump fatigue. They’re tired of these types of media spectacles.”
Those conservative voters are now looking at alternative candidates including Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, and Vivek Ramaswamy.
