Donald Trump is set to make his first major public appearance since his historic arrest at an event not organized by the former president when he speaks at a National Rifle Association (NRA) convention on Friday.
Trump will be one of the main speakers at the annual NRA-ILA Leadership Forum on Friday at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis.
Trump’s appearance could be a test to see if he still has the public support of GOP voters despite his legal difficulties, with the NRA and its members long thought to be a highly influential group for the Republican Party.
On April 4, Trump became the first U.S. president to be charged with a crime in connection with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s hush money investigation. Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in relation to hush money he allegedly arranged his attorney Michael Cohen to pay adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep an alleged affair secret prior to the 2016 election.
Brandon Bell//Getty Images
Trump is accused of falsifying business records while reimbursing Cohen the $130,000 he paid Daniels, which was listed in Trump Organization records as legal fees. Prosecutors allege the money paid to Cohen was a violation of federal election laws. Trump has denied all wrongdoing, and denied having an affair with Daniels in 2006.
While Trump gave a speech at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida hours after his arraignment in New York, Friday’s appearance at the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum will be the first not dedicated solely to the former president, or held at his own home.
As well as Trump, other top Republican figures who will be speaking at the forum include former Vice President Mike Pence, Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb and Ohio Representative Jim Jordan.
Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, both of whom have joined Trump in the race to become the GOP presidential candidate for the 2024 election, are also scheduled to speak to NRA members at the event.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is expected to confirm his 2024 ambitions having long being considered to be the biggest challenge to Trump, will speak at the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum via videolink.
Several polls suggest that Trump’s legal issues aren’t hindering his 2024 chances.
According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on the eve of his arrest, 48 percent of Republican voters said they want Trump to be their party’s presidential nominee in 2024, up 4 points from the 44 percent he received in a March 14-20 poll before the news of his indictment broke.
A Winthrop Poll released April 12 shows Trump’s 2024 bid has strong support in South Carolina, and he beats Haley in her home state by double digits.
The survey found that Trump has the backing of 41 percent of registered Republican voters to be the next presidential candidate, with DeSantis second at 20 percent, and Haley third at 18 percent.