THE formal indictment of Donald Trump has thrown the 2024 White House race into even greater uncertainty, with the Republican now facing the possibility of a trial and current US President Joe Biden has not announced his candidacy.

Before a judge in New York o Trump pleaded not guilty yesterday, Tuesday for the charges against him, i.e. for the payment of money in order to hush up cases that could embarrass him before the 2016 presidential elections.

The Republican, who has already returned to his home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, denounced the “interference” of justice in the 2024 presidential election and called the charges against him “an insult to the nation.”

“The only crime I ever committed was to defend our nation against those who seek to destroy it,” the billionaire businessman told a crowd of supporters.

A third-term candidate for the White House, Trump will now try to avoid the ordeal of a trial, which could begin in January 2024, just before the Republican primaries to choose the party’s presidential nominee .

Insults

He spent about two hours at the Manhattan courthouse, where he was escorted by a motorcade under tight security from Trump Tower.

Outside the court, supporters and opponents of the former president exchanged insults in a tense atmosphere.

Trump was forced to go through the usual impeachment process: He gave his name, age and occupation and was fingerprinted. However, he was not photographed for court records, nor was he handcuffed.

The billionaire has pleaded not guilty and says he is the victim of a “witch hunt” orchestrated by President Joe Biden’s Democrats, who “stole” his victory in the 2020 election.

For his part, the US president indicated that Trump’s appearance in court “is not a priority” for him, as his spokeswoman Karin Jean-Pierre stated.

Impeachment and polls

Trump is the first US president to be impeached. In particular, he is accused of “orchestrating” a series of payments in order to silence three cases that could affect him before the 2016 elections.

Among other things, the former president’s team paid $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels — with whom he allegedly had an extramarital affair — to buy her silence.

Donald Trump “didn’t stop lying,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said, denouncing, after five years of his office investigating, “serious criminal behavior” by the New York businessman.

“The law is the same for everyone,” he emphasized at a press conference.

Calling it a “sad” and “wrong” indictment, one of Trump’s lawyers, Todd Blanche, promised to fight to defend him.

Speaking from Florida, the former US president said: “I never thought something like this could happen in America.”

“A very dark cloud hangs over our beloved country, but I have no doubt that we will make America great again,” he added.

At the same time, Trump’s popularity appears to be rising, in part, some Republicans say, because of the impeachment.

According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Monday, Trump has the support of 48% of Republican voters – up four points from March.

Florida Sen. Ron DeSandis, who has emerged as his most formidable challenger, is supported by just 19% of Republicans — down 11 percentage points from March.