Donald Trump has an uncanny ability to earn free press coverage.
Though Trump got indicted last week for 34 felonies related to an alleged hush money payment to an adult film star for an affair, Trump was back on the golf course shortly thereafter. He then attended UFC 287 in Miami over the weekend.
He sat cage-side with former boxing champion Mike Tyson and host Joe Rogan. Fight Jorge Masvidal led the crowd in chants of “Let’s Go Brandon,” derisively aimed at President Joe Biden, who defeated Trump in 2020.
However, Republican rivals of Trump, are already seeing a redo of the 2016 campaign, in which Trump suffocated his Republican opponents on the way to winning the nomination and eventually the presidency over Democrat Hillary Clinton.
“This is deja vu all over again,” said Terry Sullivan, who ran Marco Rubio’s 2016 campaign for president, told Politico. “Trump dominates media coverage, making it impossible for his competitors to get any coverage or forward traction.”
This spells trouble for Trump’s chief Republican rival, Florida governor Ron DeSantis.
“It feels like [freaking] 2016,” a Republican strategist who supports DeSantis told Politico. “Is there anything that can suck up as much political oxygen in the American political landscape as Trump? I don’t think so.”
Only time will tell if Trump retains the presidency. But it’s clear he’ll have tons of free press coverage in his quest to do so.
[Politico]
