As the calendar year of 2024 moves into the middle of January, the political situation on the federal level continues to unfold as the nation prepares for the upcoming presidential election in November of this year. In the Republican primary, the former president Donald Trump maintains a commanding lead over two remaining challengers, Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis. On average, Trump leads between 40 and 50 points in the national primary polls. Trump handily defeated Haley, DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy (who later dropped out of the race following his poor showing) in the Iowa caucus on January 15th. Trump currently faces four criminal indictments and a constant onslaught of negative media coverage as he attempts to become the Republican nominee for the presidency for a third time.
A verdict on Trump is expected to be delivered in relation to his civil fraud case in the state of New York. If convicted, this would be the first time in the history of fraud cases in the United States in which an individual was found to have committed fraud even though there was no victim involved. Trump has alleged there has been a political “witch hunt” against him for many years and has cited two failed impeachment proceedings and the crazy rulings that many in the judiciary have made of late. The Colorado state supreme court recently ruled that Trump should be removed from the 2024 primary ballot in that state for starting an “insurrection”. Many experts have said that the court’s ruling is likely to be overturned and that their interpretation of the 14th amendment is poor. Trump has not been found guilty of anything yet, and many argue that he hasn’t been given his 5th amendment rights to due process.
Recently, the Democrat Joe Manchin has stated he has not yet ruled out the idea of running for president in the 11th hour. Many argue Biden is a vulnerable incumbent.
