Former President Donald J. Trump appeared in New York City on Tuesday after being indicted by a grand jury for paying Stormy Daniels $130,000 dollars in hush money about an affair shared between them.

On the surface, this case is both confusing and straightforward. Although the evidence against Trump is strong, Daniels herself has been adamant about action for over a decade. Cases like this are typically filed as misdemeanors, but Trump is being charged with a felony, and there are other, more substantial cases against him.

Take the 2020 elections where a special grand jury investigated an alleged election interference that Trump participated in, going as far as to call Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and asking him to “find” 11,780 votes, which would have overturned his loss in the state.

This isn’t the only other criminal case against Trump, various others have also been levied against him: tax fraud, inciting the January 6 Capitol riot, election interference and mishandling of classified documents.

So why is the hush money case the only one getting Trump indicted? Well, a couple reasons. 

First is that the case being made by Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg is founded on a prior case from 2018, where former Trump attorney Michael Cohen was charged with using campaign funds for non campaign activities, which coincidentally, was paying off Daniels. 

Still intrinsic to the first point, is the allegation that the hush money and ensuing scandal was to protect Trump from another criminal investigation, only the case doesn’t mention what other crime he may have committed.

Now, with all the information in hand, what does the case mean materially, especially to the wider voting base looking towards next year’s election? 

First and foremost, it means that Trump and his team will use this case as proof that the “deep state” and liberals are after him, an angle that has already begun to make the rounds on social media and in Trump’s own statements. 

Not only this, but Democrats have had a rather lukewarm response, when there should be a much more analytic perspective on the case, especially when considering the other cases and charges that may be brought against him.

In totality, it’s a circus of an indictment. The charges and case are solid, but rather clumsy, Trump seems worried but not too worried, and his political opponents aren’t using this to their advantage whatsoever. Whether he’ll spend time in jail is up for debate, it has already boosted him in the polls. 

Thanks America, I can always rely on you to give platforms to crooks!