Donald Trump's major advantage in primary 'won't work in general election': ex-aide
If former President Donald Trump staves off a conviction through the GOP primaries, he's going to be tough to stop.
That's the logic of Trump's former aide David Urban, and one shared by ex-Trump White House official Alyssa Farah Griffin during their appearance on CNN Tuesday night.
Urban maintains that once the general election starts it may be game over for those critics and foes pining to prevent Don's second term and that the 45th president was almost a nonfactor until DeSantis entered the race and the indictments started flying.
"So we had an indictment, charges in New York City,...and that became the news, and the news kept going and going," he said.
READ MORE: Five unresolved questions surrounding the Jan. 6 attack
"And Donald Trump is front-page, center above the fold in every paper in America. It's kept propagating and growing, right?"
And Urban believes that propelled Trump into the primary.
"So i do think that that narrative is for you to feed upon itself and strengthen as the polling suggests," he said. "That's great in the primary, I don't know if it will work in the general election."
Griffin then chimed in on how the sentiment toward Trump on Jan. 6 has softened.
"No doubt, the American public's position has changed on it," she said, referring to a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll that has Americans are wrestling over the "Jan. 6 revisionism of Donald Trump" and holding more sympathetic direction to Trump and his faithful who stormed the Capitol.
Though many hold firm that if Trump should be found convicted for his actions on that day he could sustain serious damage politically heading into 2024 with 53% of those polled claiming Trump bears at least a “good amount” of culpability for the attack on the Capitol, according to the poll.
She also believes damage done to the 45th president if he's found guilty in one of his criminal cases — could send his campaign tailspinning — if it happens prior to him earning the GOP nomination.
"I think that a conviction, while the polling suggests could hurt Donald Trump if he already has the nomination, it will be much harder to get rid of him," she said. "This is a very short process that we have."