Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Saturday predicted that former President Donald Trump will be reelected in a “landslide victory” if he is to be indicted next week by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Musk’s comment was in response to a Fox News segment that detailed how the Manhattan DA’s office reportedly requested a meeting with law enforcement officials to discuss “security preparations” and whether to “handcuff” and “fingerprint” the former president when escorting him into the courtroom.
“If this happens, Trump will be re-elected in a landslide victory,” the owner of Twitter and the world’s richest man wrote in the comment section of the post.
If this happens, Trump will be re-elected in a landslide victory
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 18, 2023
In a statement on Saturday, Trump indicated that the Manhattan DA’s office will arrest him on Tuesday of next week, calling on his supporters to “protest” and “take our nation back.”
The Manhattan DA’s office is investigating Trump over his company’s classification of a $130,000 reimbursement to his former personal attorney Michael Cohen over a payment allegedly made to adult actress Stormy Daniels.
The former president has repeatedly condemned the probe as a partisan “witch hunt,” and in Saturday’s statement on Truth Social, Trump doubled down on his rhetoric.
Trump branded the probe “corrupt & highly political,” insisting that no crime has been proven and that the possible indictment in the case would be “based on an old & fully debunked (by numerous other prosecutors!) fairy tale.”
Attempts to reach out for comment on the impending indictment were unsuccessful as the Manhattan DA’s office was not immediately available outside of normal working hours.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a staunch ally of Trump, shared Musk’s sentiment in a lengthy statement on Saturday, saying the former president “will ultimately win even bigger than he is already going to win” if he’s indicted by Manhattan’s DA office.
If the Manhattan DA indicts President Trump, he will ultimately win even bigger than he is already going to win.
And those Republicans that stand by and cheer for his persecution or do nothing to stop it will be exposed to the people and will be remembered, scorned, and… https://t.co/cryRR02xat
— Marjorie Taylor Greene ?? (@mtgreenee) March 18, 2023
“President Trump did nothing wrong and has always fought for the American people, and we all know it, which is why we love him,” Greene wrote. “And any Republican who thinks the Democrats will stop this madness once Trump is out of the way is fooling themselves.”
“Weaponized Government and Political Persecution are new chapters in their playbook and they will use those methods against anyone who stands in their way,” she added. “And we are absolutely fed up with the two-tiered justice system or rather INJUSTICE system in America.”
Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), who has been notorious among Republicans for his vote to impeach Trump, fired back on Greene’s statement.
“You break the law, you go to jail. Whomp whomp marj,” Kinzinger said on Twitter.
A ‘Sham’ That ‘Will Backfire’
Trump’s possible indictment stems from the alleged misclassifying of a $130,000 hush payment made to Daniels not to disclose an affair between the two, which Trump has denied. A grand jury was empaneled in the case and expectations have been building for an indictment.
A criminal charge against Trump would be the first-ever indictment of a former president and would add to the legal challenges faced by Trump as he seeks the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential election.
Although a number of Republicans have indicated that they believe the indictment is a plot to stop Trump’s 2024 reelection hopes, a spokesperson for the former president said he believes it will only strengthen his chances, branding the probe as “a sham.”
Steven Cheung, like Musk and Greene, believes a Trump indictment would backfire. The spokesman told Fox News in a statement on Friday that Trump is “completely innocent” and that the probe is a politically motivated attack to hamstring his run for reelection in 2024.
“Democrats are at it again, pushing the ‘Nuclear Button’ and attacking a President because of a disgraced extortionist,” Cheung said. “This is happening because President Trump is leading in the polls by a large margin against both Democrats and Republicans, and there’s never been anything so blatant in American political history.”
“Everyone knows it’s a sham,” Cheung continued. “Americans will not tolerate Radical Left Democrats turning our justice system into an injustice system to influence a presidential election, which is all they want to do. Our Country is not going to let this happen. This will backfire massively for the Democrat Party, and end in disgrace for our Nation.”
An indictment would involve setting a date and time for Trump to surrender, with the former president then delivered by his Secret Service detail to the Manhattan DA’s office for fingerprinting and mugshots. Following arrest processing in cases where a defendant is allowed to surrender, normal procedures suggest Trump would face an arraignment before a judge and then probably be released on his own recognizance.
Epoch Times reporter Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.