‘He Is At His Apex’: CNN Panel Marvels At Trump’s ‘Political Power’ After Assassination Attempt

A CNN panel on Monday marveled at former President Donald Trump’s political standing following the failed assassination attempt against him, his legal victories and more.

Trump survived the attempt on his life at his Saturday rally, and on Monday, Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed his classified documents case. The “Inside Politics With Dana Bash” panel said the Republican National convention is starting while Trump is at his political peak.

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“We find ourselves at the opening of this convention where Donald Trump is going to, for the third consecutive presidential cycle, be named his party standard bearer,” CNN political director David Chalian said. “And in this moment of having just survived an assassination attempt and now being totally vindicated by, I understand the district level judge here, in one of his key arguments, one of the two federal cases against him now thrown out, it’ll go on appeal. Obviously, Judge Cannon has been offering opinions that have been quite favorable to Donald Trump, who appointed her to the district court. And I imagine may be on a shortlist for other appointments should he become president.”

“You can’t paint, given that the former president is okay from the attack, from the shooting on the weekend, you can’t paint a better picture for Donald Trump to walk into this environment,” Chalian added. “It will be a hero’s welcome on this convention floor like we’ve never seen for a nominee before.”

Authorities identified 20-year old man named Thomas Matthew Crooks as the man who shot at  Trump, with the gunman grazing the former president’s ear and drawing blood.

“He couldn’t have scripted it any better, you know. Donald Trump has been a lucky politician in so many ways. And here he is on the cusp of being nominated. You’re going to expect a very rapturous embrace of this president,” CNN senior political analyst Nia-Malika Henderson said. “You can feel the electricity around Milwaukee, with the folks who’ve come who are delegates and really worship this president. He is at his apex and we’re going to see some of that tonight. Obviously, he‘s going to roll out the VP at some point, we’ll see who that is. But the star of this show in so many ways is going to be Donald Trump and these stories just add to it.”

Cannon on Monday consented to toss Trump’s classified documents based on the assertion that special counsel Jack Smith’s appointment was unlawful, writing that it violates the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution.

“I am struck by how different this moment is for Donald Trump. As David was saying, it‘s his third convention being nominated, but it’s different in every way. He owns this Republican Party,” CNN chief national affairs correspondent Jeff Zeleny said. “We’ve known that, but what I’m watching for as the day goes on, and I think this ruling provides a pathway to that, is can he pivot and sort of win over some voters who may not be with him necessarily, who may be still uneasy about him?”

“We know that his base supports him tremendously, but think that decision to invite Nikki Haley to give a speech on Tuesday night right here is a big signal because Nikki Haley, of course, was winning those primary voters, many of them right here in Wisconsin… We will see if the Trump orbit keeps this unity theme alive,” Zeleny added. “That‘s a big challenge for them, but this is a new opportunity for him as well.”

CNN political commentator Paul Begala earlier on Monday acknowledged that he “can’t stand” Trump but that he has the “opportunity” to become “sympathetic” after the attempt on his life.

“We are seeing Trump at the height of his political power, probably really a high point in his political career that we have seen since he came onto the public sphere. It‘s hard to think of a different time. This Republican Party is absolutely united behind him  … like we have not seen,” CNN’s Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju said.

Republished with permission from The Daily Caller News Foundation.