It’s perfectly obvious that Alvin Bragg’s indictment helps Trump. It’s a flimsy theory of the law, and it reeks of political overreach. That it’s being offered by a soft-on-crime, Soros-backed district attorney makes it all the more thrilling for conservatives to oppose it.
However, it does not follow that conservatives or Republicans have to view Donald Trump’s legal problems, even ones he does not deserve, as another reason to choose him as their candidate. In fact, his legal problems will probably be a cloud over his candidacy with the independent voters that he needs to win, in the same way that Clinton’s “emails” problem hung over her candidacy in 2016.
But Trump’s camp will make the argument that Trump’s persecution is a sign of his authentic challenge to the system. They will connect Trump’s legal problems to the general conservative suspicion that government is being weaponized against conservatives. Populist leaders thrive on this identification with their supporters. All persecution is held to be shared between them — they’re going after me, because they want to continue to run a government that doesn’t serve you.