Stirewalt: The bar is low for Trump, he needs to control himself

Stirewalt said political commentators are making a lot of straight-line projections
Stirewalt: If Trump can behave himself just a little, then maybe this does help him
Scaramucci: If he loses his cool and he goes full combustible, it will damage him

Updated: Mar 30, 2023 / 10:23 PM CDT

(NewsNation) — NewsNation political editor Chris Stirewalt said “we’re hearing a lot of gobbledygook today” while weighing in on the Thursday indictment of former President Donald Trump on “CUOMO.”

A Manhattan grand jury voted to indict former President Donald Trump on Thursday in connection to his alleged role in a hush-money payment scheme.

Stirewalt said political commentators are making a lot of straight-line projections about the indictment: This is definitely going to happen. It’s definitely going to make Trump stronger. It’s definitely going to make Trump weaker. This is the end of the Republic. This is the beginning of everything.

“People have to relax,” Stirewalt said talking with NewsNation host Chris Cuomo. “How this goes depends on what people do. We don’t know what’s in the indictment. Obviously, if he has been, obviously if Bragg had bed-sheeted Trump, and he has charges that can’t be sustained and they get thrown out of court, this would be great for Trump, right? This would be a great victory say, they came after me. I knocked it away. I’m the king, so that’d be great.”

On the other hand, Stirewalt said to think about what the aftermath of Jan. 6 and Trump’s chances to be president again would be if he could have controlled himself in the wake of losing the 2022 election.

“This is a similar moment for him,” Stirewalt said. “If Trump can behave himself, even a little, the bar is very low for Trump. If he can behave himself just a little bit and get through this with a modicum of dignity, then maybe this does help him but we just don’t know.”

Former White House staffer Anthony Scaramucci agreed, saying if Trump loses his cool, it will damage him.

“We both know Mr. Trump’s personality,” Scaramucci said. “If he loses his cool here and he goes full combustible, it will damage him. Okay. Trump is telling people privately that he’s very upset about this indictment. He’s not pretending ‘Oh, this is going to lead to a landslide victory for him or anything like that.’ He’s upset about it. He does not want to be indicted.”