Trump’s Roger Stone stunt is all about the election – it helps him to play the victim

The under-pressure president needs to play to his base – and the chance to now call on a political ally won’t hurt either

Donald Trump has taken back a bit of control – or at least that is what he will want his supporter base to think.

After a few weeks where pressure has been building over America’s response to the coronavirus and the effect it will have on the economy, the commuting of Roger Stone‘s prison sentence gives the president a chance to do two things he likes – show his power and portray himself as a victim waging a one-man war against the enemies of the nation.

With the recent White House press briefings taking on an increasingly bitter sheen, the statement about Stone did not even bother with any diplomatic language. “Roger Stone is a victim of the Russia Hoax that the Left and its allies in the media perpetuated for years in an attempt to undermine the Trump Presidency”. Ignoring the random capitals, the message was clear – and aimed squarely at Trump’s most ardent supporters.

It went on: “These charges were the product of recklessness borne of frustration and malice. This is why the out-of-control Mueller prosecutors, desperate for splashy headlines to compensate for a failed investigation, set their sights on Mr. Stone.” The phrase “frustration and malice” could equally apply to the motives behind the White House’s actions.

Many media outlets were quick to express outrage at Trump’s use of his clemency powers, which was no doubt part of the White House strategy. Indeed, even the normally quiet Robert Mueller – whom Trump has sought to undermine constantly – took to the Washington Post to make the point that Stone’s conviction still remains.

Holding the president to account includes holding decisions like this up to the light, but in reality the president knows that in commuting Stone’s sentence he is not going to lose any potential votes in November’s election that weren’t already long gone.

The point was quickly made that the commutation is a way of keeping Trump’s long-time political guru onside, although there was seemingly little chance of Stone turning against him. The broader issue worth thinking about is that Stone was connected to Trump’s successful run for the presidency in 2016 and now the current White House incumbent is facing a tougher race than he might have thought this year.

When Stone was found guilty in November 2019 of lying to the House Intelligence Committee about his attempts to contact Wikileaks, the website that released damaging emails about Trump’s 2016 Democratic election rival Hillary Clinton, the president would have felt more secure. But as 2020 and the coronavirus crisis has wound on, his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, has picked up in the polls.

Reports early last month suggested that Trump has been hitting out at his campaign official about how things were going, and the situation hasn’t exactly got any easier since. Andrew Feinberg, writing for The Independent, later highlighted disquiet among staff over the strategy of the president’s team. In such a troubled environment, it is plausible the president would look to call upon Stone, whose political acumen he has long valued.

This whole episode also plays into the White House’s efforts to make Trump an outsider again as we head towards the election. After more than three years in office it is getting harder to show that the president is the man to bring revolution to Washington. But his statements about Stone paint Trump as someone still fighting against the political machine.

The margin for error for Trump is getting smaller if recent polls are any indication – but any chance to remind his supporters of what he is about will not be missed. He will need all his base to turn out for him in November.