Maggie Haberman: Trump Confidantes Say ‘His Heart Isn’t In’ Campaigning Again

New York Times correspondent and CNN analyst Maggie Haberman says confidantes of former President Donald Trump believe his “heart is not in” politics or campaigning, amid the news of a fraud case in New York.

On Wednesday night’s edition of CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360, anchor Anderson Cooper asked Haberman what effect, if any, NY Attorney General Letitia James‘ fraud suit would have on Trump’s political plans.

Haberman said she hears Trump is not enthusiastic about running but added she doesn’t know if he’d want to give up the attention — and the fundraising:

COOPER: Maggie, obviously, this is not the only bad legal news the former President got today. What impact, if any, do you think this would have or do you think it would have any decision on whether or not he would run again?

HABERMAN: You mean, the decision in New York?

COOPER: You’re right, in New York. Yes.

HABERMAN: Yes. I mean, look, Anderson, I think that you can look at this in two different ways. Number one, a lot of people have talked to the former President say that they don’t think that his heart seems to be in politics and running and campaigning the way it once was that having been said. The second that he says that he is not running, he loses a lot of attention.

He loses the same ability to fundraise politically, and he loses potentially, if he were to run the protections that the office affords a sitting President in terms of investigations, and all of that is something that he is aware of.

I think that, you know, the people I have spoken to close to him were very relieved, still, as they have been over and over that there was no criminal charge related here. There was a criminal referral that was discussed, but this is a civil action and I think that you’re going to see them fight it on the same grounds that you have seen them quite a lot.

I will say, there were a couple of very new details related to Trump’s financial habits in this filing and there were — you know, there were certainly a lot of descriptions that the Attorney General used of his practices.

She put together a comprehensive filing, a lot of it, and that this is what the Trump folks are pointing to repeatedly. It is stuff that has largely been known. The question is going to be whether it gets heard differently in a Court this time.

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