Opinions Vary Locally on Trump Indictment
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WHEELING -- As former president Donald Trump arrived in Miami for his court appearance for his arraignment on 37 federal charges, locals had a wide range of opinions on the case and the future of Trump's 2024 presidential run.
Trump supporter Shawn Aldag believes that the investigation is "a witch hunt" and that Democrats will find that the case will only energize Trump's base.
"The Democratic Party is trying to slow down Trump's ability to go on the campaign trail, but they don't realize what they're doing is actually strengthening his base," said Aldag. "He's actually getting bolstered instead."
Chad Houston, who supports Trump's policies but is less supportive of his public persona, was also suspicious of the timing of the arraignment being so close to the election.
"When a political group blatantly attacks one guy for so long that raises red flags for me," Houston said, "because there's not many presidents in our history that haven't done the same as Trump.
"They're just trying to keep him from running," Houston added. "Do I like the guy? Would I sit down and have a beer with him? Probably not. But our country was in a lot better shape when he was in office."
Other residents, such as Tuinn Ford, believe justice should be served on both ends of the political spectrum.
"If you're a Democrat or a liberal in office you can do whatever you want, it's as if the law doesn't apply to you," said Ford. "(Former U.S. Secretary of State) Hillary (Clinton) should have been in jail years ago for the same thing and Biden also did the same, so that's where we are as a country."
Ford finds issue with the General Services Administration just as much as Trump, as the GSA "is supposed to gather up all that information and take care of it."
Ford was also exasperated with Trump's actions.
"I don't know how Trump got all that information if the GSA was supposed to have it. It was dumb on his part not to just turn it over."
Biden supporter Michael Castellucci believes that Trump "has had it coming" and that "he's gotten away with a lot that he probably shouldn't have."
Casttellucci said he was pleased that there was now "very concrete evidence" against the former president and believes that Trump now looks foolish after criticizing Clinton during the 2020 election for her email scandal which was "not nearly as bad and Trump wanted to put her in jail for that."
"Now, it looks really bad that this is happening to him and he's looking for support from places where he shouldn't really be getting it," said Casttellucci. "I think people who are paying attention know that Trump is a conman and this is just another example of that."