Former president Donald Trump is reportedly relishing the idea of a perp walk as he prepares for a potential indictment.
The former president has reportedly told friends and associates at Mar-a-Lago that he welcomes the idea of doing a perp walk in front of supporters and photographers if Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg does indeed indict him, according to The New York Times.
Mr Bragg appears poised to indict the former president for paying hush money to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about an alleged sexual affair, which Mr Trump vehemently denies.
Mr Trump has reportedly mused openly about whether he should smile for the press and wondered how the public would react to his potential indictment. He has also told people he sees the indictment as a fun experience but nobody is quite sure if Mr Trump’s words are bravado or he has simply accepted a potential indictment.
The former president on Saturday urged his supporters to protest a potential indictment, when he first said he might be indicted on Tuesday, though the day came and went without an outcome in the case.
“He wants to be defiant – to show the world that if they can try to do this to him, they can do it to anyone,” one confidant said.
But no authorities have indicacted whether Mr Trump would in fact do a perp walk were the district attorney’s office to actually indict the former president. Law enforcement would likely coordinate between with the Secret Service to avoid a media circus and it’s unlikely Mr Trump would be placed in a holding cell while awaiting indictment, as is the case with most defendants.
One confidant told The Times that the former president is more concerned about whether he would be allowed to show his face so people know he isn’t afraid.
The Washington Post also reported that the former president is also preparing to continue his campaign despite the indictment and hope to capitalise on it in right-wing media outlets. One adviser said he raised more than $1.5m since Saturday, when he announced on Truth Social that he would be indicted.
The Trump campaign also hopes to use the case to pressure Mr Trump’s rivals for the Republican nomination for president, in particular Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, whom he has repeatedly antagonised. Mr Trump reportedly surprised his own advisers when he made his post on Truth Social saying he could be arrested as soon as Tuesday.
The case in Manhattan is one of four investigations Mr Trump faces. He also faces an investigation in Fulton County, Georgia, for his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in the state. Special Counsel Jack Smith, whom the Justice Department appointed last year, is also investigating him for his actions related to January 6 and his keeping of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago after he left office.
MSNBC Host Joe Scarborough mocked the former president’s strongman posure on his show Morning Joe and said Mr Trump was “whistling past the graveyard.”
“He’s not looking forward to any of it, he’s horrified,” he said. “He’s just talking big. The walls are closing in, as has been said before.”
