Trump's election interference trial is set to begin the day before Super Tuesday
AP Photo/John Locher
- Trump's election interference trial date is set for the day before Super Tuesday.
- Such a timeline injects a huge level of potential chaos into the GOP presidential race.
- But Trump has indicated that he would fight through his charges and won't drop his 2024 bid.
Former President Donald Trump will face one of his four criminal trials during the 2024 presidential race, as US District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered a March 4, 2024, trial date — just one day before the highly consequential Super Tuesday contests.
In the case regarding Trump's efforts to overturn now-President Joe Biden's 2020 presidential victory, Chutkan didn't heed arguments made by the former president's legal team, who tried to make the case for a April 2026 trial.
"You're not going to get two more years. This case is not going to trial in 2026," the judge told Trump's legal team on Monday, according to MSNBC.
In making her decision, Chutkan said that she wasn't taking the 2024 GOP presidential into consideration. And setting the start of the trial one day before one of the most critical dates on the primary calendar would seemingly affirm her thinking.
"Mr. Trump, like any defendant will have to make the trial date work, regardless of his schedule," she said on Monday.
Chutkan set the March date after prosecutors spoke of the need for a speedy trial given Trump's public comments about his pending cases — which they feel could tarnish the jury pool.
But regardless of the trial date, Trump is going full speed ahead on his campaign, and with his continued dominance of the GOP field, he shows no signs of stopping his bid.
Super Tuesday is especially important, as the results could show Trump having effectively locked up the nomination or in the process of doing so.