Former US President, Donald Trump, resumed his presidential campaign early this week, targeting Wisconsin and Michigan.
The two mid-western states did not take part in the February presidential nominations, and instead scheduled their voting for March 2nd 2024.
How the March 2 GOP Primaries Were Set to Play Out
While the Michigan GOP membership has had leadership wrangles, Wisconsin wanted to deal with two referendum questions at the time of voting.
Voters expected the leadership standoff in Michigan to persist, with one faction holding its primaries in Detroit. The Detroit faction believed that Kristina Karamo was still the GOP chair, and should, therefore, lead the March 2 Presidential primaries.
Meanwhile, there was the faction that believed Karamo was removed from office lawfully. Therefore, the onus of leading the Presidential primaries was on Pete Hoekstra with the Grand Rapids being the poll venue.
Incidentally, the Republican party headquarters recognized Karamo’s replacement, Hoekstra, as validly installed. However, at the time, it was not clear how the party was going to handle the confusion, considering Karamo had challenged her ouster in a court of law.
Outcome of the Presidential Primaries
By the time voting ended in Michigan at 21:00 Eastern time, Trump was in the lead. He garnered 761, 163 votes, which constitutes 68.1% of the GOP membership.
As it is, the 45th US president stands a big chance of representing the Republican Party in the November Presidential elections.
New York Appellate Court Grants Trump a Lifeline
Former President Donald Trump’s financial woes have been seen as a threat to his presidential bid.
A New York court fined him $464 million in a civil case of fraud, but an appellate court has since reduced the amount to $175 million.
Recently, Trump was reported as having difficulty finding someone or an organization to render him financial support, especially in the light of his pending court cases.
Nevertheless, Knight Specialty Insurance Company, a subsidiary of the Hankey Group, has come to Trump’s rescue. The company has helped him secure the reduced bond amount of $175 million, with the Hankey Group chairman admitting he is a Trump fan.
Trump’s civil fraud case emanates from his continued trend of inflating the value of his business assets. The negative impact of this fraud was that banks ended up lending him more money than was prudent to do.
Initially, the lower court, presided by Judge Arthur Engoron, fined Trump $354.8 million, and added an estimated $100 million being accumulated interest.