What do Trump allies think about his recent arrest?

Former President Donald Trump was arrested at the Fulton County Jail Thursday on charges related to alleged election interference in Georgia after the 2020 election.

After being booked and released, Trump addressed reporters at the Hartsfield-Jackson airport in Atlanta.

“When you challenge an election you should be able to challenge an election,” he said. “And I should have every right to do that. As you know, you have many people that you’ve been watching over the years do the same thing, whether it’s Hillary Clinton or Stacey Abrams or many others.”

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis charged him and 18 others with 41 counts, including racketeering charges, in connection with efforts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results, as the Deseret News reported.

In response to the charges, some Republican lawmakers launched an investigation into the district attorney, while others like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., took to social media to show support.

Greene posted a fake mug shot in solidarity with the former president and prompted other supporters to post their own versions.

This is Trump’s fourth criminal case, but this is the first time his mug shot was taken. Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro questioned on social media whether the picture was needed.

“He’s the most photographed person on Earth. The mugshot was completely unnecessary and vindictive, of course,” he said. “But it’s going to backfire dramatically, since this image is instantly iconic.”

Will Trump lose popularity amid 4th indictment?

Shapiro may be right. Hours after the arrest, the Trump campaign was selling shirts featuring the mug shot.

But Stu Rothenberg, a nonpartisan political analyst, told Reuters that ultimately, Trump, the GOP front-runner for 2024, is at risk of losing independent and moderate voters because of the indictments.

“Close elections are won at the margins,” Rothenberg said.

The latest Politico Magazine/Ipsos poll found that 3 in 5 Americans surveyed say that Trump’s trials for cases related to his handling of classified documents and his involvement in efforts to overturn the 2020 election should happen before the 2024 election.

House Republicans launch probe into Atlanta district attorney

In Congress, Rep. Jim Jordan, the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, is launching an investigation into Fani Willis, the district attorney in Georgia’s Fulton County.

Jordan raised questions about Willis’ motivation for charging Trump in a letter to Willis.

“Your indictment and prosecution implicate substantial federal interests, and the circumstances surrounding your actions raise serious concerns about whether they are politically motivated,” Jordan’s letter says.

“And because this former president is a current candidate for that office, the indictment implicates another core federal interest: a presidential election,” it said.