(TheConservativeTimes.org) – John Kelly, former White House chief of staff for the Trump administration, recently told The Washington Post that, despite Donald Trump’s attempt to project strength in the face of his recent indictment, he is “scared sh*tless.”
Having served as the former president’s chief of staff from 2017 to 2019, Kelly is one of the handful of members — and most likely the most prominent one — from the administration who turned against Trump after he left office.
Trump made his first federal court appearance on Tuesday, June 13, and pleaded not guilty after being indicted by the Department of Justice on 37 felony counts related to improperly handling and storing classified documents in his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.
The Post noted that Trump is attempting to face his second indictment in less than three months with the same “strongman” attitude attributed to his many rallies, appealing to the notion that indictment is nothing more than a witch hunt, a term heavily popularized by Trump.
Kelly told the Post that the president does this because he knows that “for the first time in his life, it looks like he is going to be held accountable.” According to Kelly, Trump is merely projecting his fear that he will be legally penalized for his alleged criminal behavior.
CNN reporter Evan Perez described the scene inside the Miami courtroom on Tuesday, noting that the president looked “very glum,” perhaps corroborating Kelly’s claims that Trump fears what will come from this indictment.
However, Trump’s private feelings on the matter do not appear to have any noticeable effect on his popularity. According to the RealClearPolitics general election polling average, Trump maintains a 2-point lead over President Joe Biden. Individual polls also show that both candidates are neck-and-neck, well within the margin of error.
Trump also maintains a wide lead in the Republican presidential nomination, with Trump maintaining a solid 31.1-point lead over his strongest rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is polling at just 21% overall.
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