We are seeing moving demonstrations of democracy around the world.
In Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu was determined to press ahead with a judicial review – which critics say would end the independence of the courts – but he delayed it yesterday after more massive street protests insisted he wanted to “avoid civil war”.
In France, protesters are so angry with Emmanuel Macron for raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 – without Parliament’s approval – that more than 3 million people have taken to the streets in a nationwide strike.
And here in America, Donald Trump called the prosecutor who was after him an “animal” and a “psychopath”, and said that any charges would lead to “death and destruction”.
TRUMP HAS A DOUBLE DIGIT OVER DESANTIS IN 2024 PRIMARY VOTING, AHEAD OF THE REST OF THE FIELD.
Former President Donald Trump, left, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, right. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images/Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images)
In fact, it’s quite the opposite, with Trump’s most loyal supporters – not to mention most Republican officials – saying they support and even more strongly support former President Alvin Bragg in his war with the Manhattan DA.
And criticism of Bragg’s vulnerable Stormy Daniels money case has been drowned out in recent days by attacks on Trump’s behavior, not just from the left.
Fox Business host Stuart Varney asked on his show, “Does the country condone Trump threatening a baseball and calling Alvin Bragg an animal? Is that what we want to see in a presidential candidate?”
“Fox & Friends” host Brian Kilmeade said yesterday that it was “absolutely appalling” and “insane” that Trump was praising the January 6 riots.
And the conservative New York Post, owned by Rupert Murdoch, said: “He hasn’t changed at all. There’s no shame in him. After inciting riots, encouraging a coup and agreeing to hang his vice president, “He hasn’t changed at all. he’s back to making violent threats against Americans.”
Trump’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, also said on “Meet the Press” that his client’s posting of himself with a baseball bat next to a photo of Bragg was “wrong.”
This is all to set the stage for the argument that current polls showing Trump crushing Ron DeSantis are essentially meaningless.
DESANTIS ON JOINING TRUMP IN 2024: “I’LL BE AN EXECUTIVE GUY MORE THAN ZALUR”
Of course, Trump is the frontrunner in the GOP primaries, and DeSantis, who had some stumbles last week, remains untested as a national candidate.
But aside from the fact that we don’t know whether Trump will go into the primaries fighting one or more impeachments, the latest polls don’t mean much.
Trump has the national lead, but the primaries are a state-by-state marathon.
A new poll by National Opinion Strategies found that the Florida governor led Trump 45 percent to 37 percent in Iowa, the first contest.
And in the next contest, New Hampshire, DeSantis and Trump are tied at 39%. Trump has higher negatives in both states.
Former President Donald Trump speaks to the media during an election night event at Mar-a-Lago on November 8, 2022 in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump spoke as the nation awaits the results of the midterm elections. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Let’s say (for the sake of argument) that DeSantis, who is not yet a declared candidate, leads the former president by 8 points in Iowa and has a photo finish in New Hampshire.
This will cause a media explosion. The Trump unrest will be defeated. DeSantis will be considered a giant-killer. Yes, they are both small and unrepresentative states, but it doesn’t matter. DeSantis will suddenly be seen as a potential president (which means more media scrutiny).
A few notes: Trump lost the Iowa caucuses to Ted Cruz in 2016, but easily won the nomination. He argued that the Texas senator had stolen the state.
TRUMP’S ARREST DEEPFAKES ARE GOING VIRAL
Biden, in that case, was beaten in Iowa and New Hampshire, ostracized by the press, and still managed to win the nomination and beat Trump.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis joins Fox News’ Sean Hannity at a GOP town hall on July 21, 2021. (Pedro Portal/El Nuevo Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
I’m not arguing that a couple of early losses would sink Trump. But the change in momentum, measured by media coverage and experts, would be enormous. That result would almost certainly give Republicans elsewhere the go-ahead to back DeSantis if he looks like a credible winner.
SUBSCRIBE TO HOWIE’S MEDIA BUZZMETER PODCAST, A RIFF OF THE REAL STORY OF THE DAY
In the 1968 New Hampshire primary, Lyndon Johnson, a write-in candidate, won 58% of the vote to 42% for insurgent Democrat Gene McCarthy, enough to knock LBJ out of the race by the end of the month. I am not suggesting that Trump would have reacted in a similar manner.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
But if Trump loses a primary or two, he’ll need more than baseball bat photos to right the campaign boat.
Howard Kurtz is the host of FOX News Channel’s MediaBuzz (Sundays 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. ET). Based in Washington, D.C., he joined the network in July 2013 and appears frequently on Special Report with Bret Baier and other programs.