What’s your name?Trump’s legal team faces an unusual balancing act: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online version of From the political deskis an evening newsletter from the NBC News political team that brings you the latest reporting and analysis from the campaign trail, the White House and Capitol Hill.

In today’s issue, senior national affairs correspondent Jonathan Allen explains why it’s important to note the different names Donald Trump was called during his New York criminal trial. Additionally, Chief Political Analyst Chuck Todd examines the impact that apathetic voters will have on the 2024 race.

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What’s your name?Trump’s legal team faces an unusual balancing act

Written by Jonathan Allen

Donald Trump has received a lot of abuse during the first six days of his hush money trial in New York.

“In honor of the president who served from 2017 to 2021, we will refer to him as ‘President Trump,'” Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche told jurors on Monday. “And as everyone knows, that’s the office he currently represents. He’s the Republican candidate.”

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David Pecker, a longtime tabloid publisher, testified that he conspired with Trump in 2015 and 2016 to “catch and kill” stories that could harm Trump’s campaign. When they spoke, “I would call him Donald,” she told the court.

Judge Juan Melchan greeted the former president on Tuesday with the standard greeting for a defendant: “Good morning, Mr. Trump.” This is also the format favored by prosecutors.

The name question is just one of the unusual features of the first criminal trial against a former US president, but it represents a point of tension for Mr Trump and his defense team.

Blanche stands between an audience of one in the defense box and an audience of 12 in the jury box, and between Trump as once the most powerful man in America and now Trump as a common defendant. A difficult balance must be struck.

President Trump requires his employees to call him “President,” which is not unusual for a former president.

But there’s another reason Trump’s lawyers call him that. First, his broader legal and public relations strategy for the more serious federal charges he faces relies on the argument that he should be immune from prosecution for acts committed as president.

And what the New York defense team wants jurors to conclude is that President Trump is so powerful that they don’t need to care how he paid his aides to keep the porn star quiet. That’s true, but Mr. Branch suggested he was aware of the risk that jurors could be prejudiced. If a defendant seems to think he is superior to his judge-appointed colleagues, he will be alienated.

After Blanche explained why she called Trump “the president,” she quickly tried to portray her client as a normal guy.

“But, and here’s the thing, he’s not just a former president. He’s not just the Donald Trump you saw on TV, read about, saw pictures of,” Branch said. “He’s a man too. He’s his husband. He’s his father. And he’s a human being just like you and like me.”

Trump may be the most famous person on the planet. But jurors will have to decide whether this Trump, by any other name, is guilty or not guilty.

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Will voters wake up by Election Day?

Written by Chuck Todd

The latest NBC News poll contains some alarming results. I asked the question I ask every election year. On a scale of 1 to 10, how interested are you in the upcoming election? And the results show that interest in elections is at its lowest level in a decade. Fewer people picked a “10” in this poll than in any presidential election year we’ve tested since 2004, but his one brief exception in early 2012 quickly reverted.

It’s no surprise that so many voters showed apathy in this election, as I recently documented. Voters are desperate for a change in leadership, and both political parties have offered similar things, making it difficult for voters to enter the first Joe Biden vs. Donald Trump showdown or race against President Trump in 2020. It is natural that they are not interested in this election in comparison. Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Ultimately, unless something happens in the fall that resets voters’ mindsets, we seem headed for an election with low turnout. That will have unique effects up and down the ballot, making third-party candidates and the various idiosyncrasies of each battleground state even more important than usual. As variance increases, so do the potential Electoral College outcomes.

In conclusion, this poll only confirms the trends I’ve been writing about for the past few weeks. This results in voters who are slow to decide, thanks to voters who decide to cancel the election because they believe they already understand without needing new information. I truly believe he will tell us very little in most polls from now until October. We know what 90% of voters will do. This election will be decided by the final 10% of voters who waver between the two parties, or between voting and not voting.

And the lack of appeal of the front-runners, combined with the feeling among many voters that neither party has the answers on the economy or foreign policy, has led to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. This means that there is no possibility of becoming one. The factors that determine which one will exhaust their path to victory.

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That’s all from the political desk for now. If you have any feedback, whether you like it or not, please email us at: politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com

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