COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - The attorney for adult film actress Stormy Daniels says he isn’t dead set on making a bid to challenge President Donald Trump in 2020. But Michael Avenatti says he was warmly received in South Carolina - home to the first southern primaries of 2020.
In his first trip to the state, Avenatti met with attorneys in Columbia, brunched with local Democrats, and attended fundraisers for candidates and county parties. He says people are witnessing a transformation from celebrity attorney to viable presidential candidate.
“They see me as a fighter, someone who could potentially take down Donald Trump, and they’re curious,” Avenatti told The Associated Press. “Then when they meet me or hear me speak on a broader range of issues, it’s very enlightening to them.”
Avenatti rose to national prominence as the legal representative of Daniels, who has said she had sex with Donald Trump before he became president. Trump, while denying any trysts, has acknowledged reimbursing his lawyer for a $130,000 hush-money payment to Daniels.
Avenatti is one of a handful of potential 2020 Democratic hopefuls to visit the state in the run-up to the 2018 midterms. Former Vice President Joe Biden campaigned last weekend for Democratic gubernatorial nominee James Smith. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and California Sen. Kamala Harris are making visits later this week. Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks at a rally Saturday.
Avenatti is being closely watched. To some Democrats, he represents the nonpolitician appeal that in part led Trump to victory over more experienced politicians in 2016. Others see someone whose brash confidence could be the ultimate weapon against Trump in 2020.
“The people who were there appreciated him pushing back on Donald Trump,” said Jaime Harrison, a former South Carolina Democratic Party chairman who visited with Avenatti during a trip to Florence. “I give Avenatti an A-plus in terms of appeal because there’s a section of the Democratic Party that’s going to want that.”
But Harrison, who oversaw the state party during the 2016 presidential cycle, said it’s policy-based knowledge that will boost the party’s ultimate nominee.
“You can be as aggressive as hell, but if you don’t know what you’re talking about, it’ll show through,” Harrison said.
Robert Rikard said he saw that substance during several hours of conversation with Avenatti during his trip. The Columbia attorney, who’s met many presidential hopefuls over the years, said he was impressed by Avenatti’s self-made drive, as well as his ideas on issues like the environment and economic disparity.
“He’s not a one-trick pony,” Rikard said. “He has a lot of depth on a lot of issues that are confronting our country now and will confront our country in the near future.”
Not all of Avenatti’s reception was warm. On Twitter, Bakari Sellers, a Columbia attorney who served as a South Carolina Democratic House lawmaker, responded to a tweet in which Avenatti criticized “establishment” Democrats.
“They are why we continue to get beat and why we are presently in a fight for the survival of this republic,” Avenatti tweeted.
“You need to chill,” Sellers tweeted back. “You just showed up to the party yesterday.”
As for his own potential bid, Avenatti said he’ll continue to get to know the voters he may ultimately be calling on for support.
“One trip to South Carolina does not a presidential run make,” he said. “If I could ensure that my reception going forward across the country was as good as South Carolina, I’d be in good shape.”
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Kinnard can be reached on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP.
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