Pollster Frank Luntz warned New York Attorney General Letitia James that she is "going to elect Donald Trump" if she goes through with seizing the former president's properties.

James — a Democrat who campaigned on the promise that she would go after Trump — brought an unprecedented civil fraud case against the former commander in chief, which resulted in him owing penalties and interest in excess of $450 million. Trump has until Monday to pay it off, or James said she will start seizing his properties.

During a CNN panel discussion Thursday, Luntz predicted that James' attack on Trump will ultimately backfire on Democrats:

I want you to remember this moment and don’t forget it: If the New York attorney general starts to take his homes away, starts to seize his assets — it’s all gonna be on camera, pundits are gonna sit there and scream ... 'This man cannot be elected' — you’re going to create the greatest victimhood of 2024, and you’re going to elect Donald Trump. If they take his stuff, he’s gonna say that this is proof that the federal government and the establishment in the swamp in Washington and all the politicians across the country and the attorneys generals and all of this, that this is a conspiracy to deny him the presidency. He’s gonna go up in the polls just like he went up every single time they indicted him. The indictment, and let’s not talk about whether it’s justified or not, but it will prove the things that he’s saying on the campaign trail, and he will go up, and it may just elect him president. Do not forget that.

With that, Luntz pointed his finger at the camera in a figurative warning to James:

Image source: X video screenshot via @FrankLuntz

And I say this to the attorney general right now: If you play politics on this, this is what the secretaries of state did in Colorado, and what they did in, I believe in Maine, his numbers went up in both states. I don’t understand. I’m almost speechless in how pathetic the opposition to Trump has been and how completely misguided. And this is a perfect example of it.

Luntz also spoke more broadly about Trump's lead in the polls despite his legal troubles:

How is Donald Trump beating [President] Joe Biden? He’s got 85 indictments that still exist. Felonies. How is he beating Joe Biden with the economy getting better and things cleaning up? Okay ... you still have inflation, you've still got immigration. Trump is leading. And in the seven swing states, Trump is up by the margin of error in five out of seven. Why is that happening? Because his critics are stupid, and they’re running a horrible campaign. And for those people who do not want Donald Trump back, they should be thankful that the people who are orchestrating his loss are as pathetic, and they don’t understand the American people."

Here's the clip. The relevant portion begins after the 4:15 mark:

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Anything else?

The New York Times reported that Trump’s social media company on Friday "completed a merger with a cash-rich shell company, raising Mr. Trump’s wealth by billions and potentially providing him a fresh source of cash to pay his mounting legal bills."

The Times added that the merger with Digital World Acquisition Corporation will "pump more than $300 million into Trump Media, which has all but exhausted its available cash and will allow Truth Social, the company’s flagship digital media platform, to keep operating."

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