The (High) Price of Humiliation
Don’t look now, but are the polls moving?
Donald Trump, the self-proclaimed billionaire, cannot secure a bond to cover a $454 million judgment against him. This could mean the seizure of any number of his properties as soon as next week.
One can imagine how humiliating this is for the Republican frontrunner, a man who wears his net worth on his sleeve and whose self-worth is intrinsically tied to money.
Trump is appealing the February 16 judgment against him for lying about and inflating the value of his properties to lenders and insurance companies. He must either give the full amount to the court to be held in escrow or get a bond. In a filing with the New York appellate court today, his attorneys admitted Trump faces “insurmountable difficulties” in obtaining the bond. A whopping 30 surety companies have rejected his requests. The lawyers described his chances of success as “a practical impossibility.”
The appellate court has been asked to pause the judgment or significantly reduce it to $100 million. If it fails to rule by March 25, New York State Attorney General Letitia James can start seizing Trump’s properties immediately.
You may wonder why Trump does not just use his vast real estate holdings, like Trump Tower and Mar-a-Lago, as collateral. Bond companies prefer more liquid assets, like securities, of which he does not have enough — especially for a bond of this size. And it’s not only $454 million. If he could get the bond, it would be 120% of the $454 million plus 2% interest for two years upfront, so closer to $600 million.
This is on top of the $91.6 million bond he was able to secure to cover the judgment in the E. Jean Carroll defamation case, which he is also appealing.
It wasn’t the only bad news he got today.
For the first time in more than six months, presidential tracking polls show President Biden and Trump in a dead heat. Trump had been leading since September.
So why the sudden Biden surge? The easiest explanation may be that “crazy” is finally catching up to Trump.
Since he spends most of the workweek defending himself in courts around the country, Trump’s campaigning has been limited to weekend rallies. Saturday night found him in Ohio, where he spewed this doozy: “Now if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole — that’s gonna be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country.” He seemed to have gone off script, as he had just been talking about Chinese competition in the car industry.
He also now calls the January 6 insurrectionists who are currently serving prison time “hostages.” And he said he would pardon all of them on day one of his second term. Imagine hundreds of convicted insurrectionists suddenly being freed. A group of Americans polled by CBS News didn’t think much of the idea. The electorate doesn’t embrace the former president's approval of political violence and those who perpetrate it.
Sixty-two percent of all voters oppose the pardons, according to a CBS News poll. A Data for Progress poll shows that 57% of independents are less likely to vote for a candidate who approves of the January 6 attacks. Even a majority of self-described MAGA Republicans — 57% — don’t support the conduct of the rioters, according to CBS News.
Now, once you have read and perhaps mentally digested all of the above, it’s time to evoke our mantra: steady. Polls are at most simply a moment’s snapshot of how people say they are thinking. It’s usually a mistake to make too much of them.
Trump’s money problems appear to be real, and that’s not a good sign for him. But court delays and loans could grant him some relief yet. And who knows how that will affect the election, if at all.
Trump looks politically weaker right now, but that is not necessarily a permanent condition. With the election still months away, we need to remind ourselves that everyone who cares about the country needs to pay attention and get involved. Politics is incremental, and electorates are fickle. Though President Biden will need more to win, momentum appears to have moved in his direction, at least for the moment.
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Stay Steady,
Dan
Enjoy your wisdom. I am 69 and thought I would never see what I am seeing in the USA. Us old guys and gals have to say, "not here, not now."
Thanks for making note of this:
"Trump looks politically weaker right now, but that is not necessarily a permanent condition. With the election still months away, we need to remind ourselves that everyone who cares about the country needs to pay attention and get involved."
We cannot afford to become complacent. Who knows what's going to get thrown our way? 2016 should serve as a very painful reminder.