Seven years ago, while on the presidential campaign trail, Donald Trump boasted, “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters, OK? It’s, like, incredible.” The point of the boast was simple: The Republican believed his partisan support was so strong, and his control was so absolute, that he could politically persevere no matter how serious the allegations against him.
Yesterday created a new test of the Fifth Avenue theory. After hearing evidence in a civil trial, a jury concluded that the former president is liable for sexually abusing a woman. Those same jurors agreed that Trump owes his accuser, E. Jean Carroll, $5 million in damages.
Under the traditional norms of American politics, these developments would be an immediate career-ender. In contemporary Republican politics, however, as Trump’s Fifth Avenue theory suggests, the rules — and the GOP — are facing a new test.
The party hasn’t exactly aced the exam. HuffPost reported overnight:
Republican lawmakers defended former President Donald Trump after he was found liable for sexual assault and defamation in a civil case in New York, in the latest legal bombshell that could haunt the GOP presidential front-runner in 2024. “That jury’s a joke. The whole case is a joke,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) told reporters on Tuesday. … “It makes me want to vote for him twice,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) told HuffPost when asked about the verdict.
Sen. Bill Hagerty went so far as to suggest Trump, and not Carroll, should be seen as some kind of victim. “I think we’ve seen President Trump under attack since before he became president,” the Tennessee Republican told Fox News. “This has been going on for years. He’s been amazing in his ability to weather these sorts of attacks and the American public has been amazing in their support through it.”
Several other prominent Republicans, including Sens. Lindsey Graham and Rick Scott, insisted…
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