Former President Donald Trump on Thursday turned himself in at the Fulton County Jail in Georgia to be arrested and booked and have his mugshot taken in relation to an alleged criminal racketeering conspiracy for which he was indicted by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
On the way to the jail, Trump's motorcade passed through a predominately black neighborhood in Atlanta, and the seemingly positive reception the embattled and four-times indicted ex-president received has surprised just about everyone, according to the Western Journal.
A viral video clip of the unexpected moment stands in stark contrast to the prevailing narratives pushed by Democrats and their media allies that all Republicans, and especially Trump, are widely despised by black Americans for being racist white supremacist Nazis, and other such false assertions.
The video posted to X-Twitter on Thursday evening showed dozens of predominately black residents of an Atlanta neighborhood who had lined the streets in advance of former President Trump's motorcade passing on its way to the county jail.
To be sure, some of those individuals may support the criminal indictments against Trump and others may have simply been excited to see the convoy of vehicles transporting a celebrity through their neighborhood.
That said, some of the onlookers were clearly cheering in support of the former president, and the audible cry of "Free Trump!" was heard repeatedly throughout the video.
What the media doesn’t want you to see. The people love Trump pic.twitter.com/h2vfdJb1rM
— 🇺🇸Travis🇺🇸 (@Travis_in_Flint) August 25, 2023
Fox News reported that former President Trump has seemingly enjoyed a bump upward in the polls after each of the four criminal indictments against him were unveiled, and thus far this latest indictment in Georgia appears to be no different in that regard.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) suggested that is because many Americans, regardless of how they may personally feel about Trump, recognize that he is being unfairly persecuted for political reasons by an increasingly corrupt, oppressive, and unjust government.
That includes certain demographic groups that have historically been similarly put upon by the government, such as black men. Gingrich said, "The reason is simple: They feel that the police have harassed them. They're now watching the government harass Trump. They actually identify with what he's going through."
"I think many people who may or may not like Trump's personality, but they look at this and they think, 'Here are my choices. I'm going to side with a totally corrupt administration or I'm going to side with the guy who has the guts to stand there and take the beating and keep coming,'" he continued.
Gingrich added that the seemingly purposeful and targeted retaliation against Trump by the government establishment for daring to run for the presidency again has also played in his favor, and said, "If he'd retired, none of these charges would ever have occurred, and instead, he said, 'You know, the country is worth going through this,' and I think that's given him support in places that normally wouldn't have supported him."
That Fox News report pointed to a July article from The Washington Post about the growing fears among Democrats that black voters, particularly young black males, would not turn out in sufficient numbers in support of President Joe Biden in 2024 to guarantee his re-election, given substantial drops in voter turnout in the 2020 and 2022 elections in comparison to prior election cycles.
Of course, just because disillusioned and dispirited black male voters may not turn out in droves to re-elect Biden doesn't necessarily mean that they will all line up to cast a ballot for Trump, but some who otherwise typically wouldn't support a Republican presidential candidate may indeed do just that, not to mention the fact that Biden could also lose to Trump if enough black voters simply chose to not participate and withhold their vote from either candidate.
