Jonathan Last: “It would not surprise me—at all—if Trump chooses to surrender himself on August 23. He’d then take over the entire news cycle that day with its wall-to-wall coverage of the fingerprinting and mugshot.”
“And then Trump goes straight from the jail to a giant Trump rally that runs—and here I’m just spitballing—from 8-11 p.m. EDT.”
“Fox will carry the debate and all of the other networks will carry his rally and you tell me which would get the bigger ratings numbers?”
“The entire Republican debate would be swamped. The candidates on the stage would have extra pressure to light themselves on fire in order to break through. And the second-day stories would be about how Trump schlonged Fox and the rest of the field.”
“Trump isn’t smart, but he is cunning and he understands both power and weakness. And he sees the same things we’re all seeing.”
