Former President Donald Trump has been logging as much time in the courtroom as he has on the campaign trail, a potential obstacle that he is turning to his advantage.

Since the beginning of October, Mr. Trump has spent four days campaigning — in Iowa, New Hampshire and Florida — and four days stewing alongside his defense attorneys in a Manhattan courtroom.

The 77-year-old is charged in a civil fraud case with fudging his business assets to secure loans and make deals that otherwise would have been outside his reach.

“Trump in the courts more than [the] campaign trail is unheard of,” Steffen Schmidt, a political science professor at Iowa State University, said in an email. “But, Trump is actually on the campaign trail — from the courthouse!”

“I call it the ‘Courthouse Campaign,” he said.

From the Trump perspective, Mr. Schmidt said, “The more accusations, charges, trials, indictments, the better.”

Conventional campaign wisdom suggested that being stuck in the halls of justice would be the death knell for any candidate. But that has not been the case for the boisterous former star of The Apprentice reality show.

Mr. Trump, always the showman, is making the most of his new stage, taking advantage of the bank of reporters and cameras waiting for him outside the courtroom to gobble up whatever he wants to get off his chest. Not only is he offering legal defenses in these media encounters, but he’s keeping attention on his presidential campaign.

“This is a continuation of the single greatest witch hunt of all time,” Mr. Trump said on his first court appearance earlier this month.

Mr. Trump described Democrat New York state Attorney General Letitia James as a “racist,” “corrupt” and “radical lunatic,” and said she has been consumed with tearing him down.

“This is an attorney general — Letitia — that went out and campaigned on, ‘I will get Trump. I will get Trump no matter what,” he said in his most recent court appearance. “She shouldn’t be allowed to be attorney general.”

Maintaining his innocence, Mr. Trump has said he was “the perfect client” for banks, and his financial statements are “phenomenal” and said he is the victim of the Biden administration weaponizing the justice system against him.

“This is all coming out of Washington,” Mr. Trump said.

Mr. Trump likely will have to get used to using the courtroom as a bully pulpit.

He faces more than 90 felony criminal charges in separate cases involving an attempt to cover up hush money payments to a porn star, mishandling of classified documents, and interfering with the 2020 election. He has pleaded not guilty in the cases.

The dynamic is so far working in his favor.

“In a curious way, polling suggests that Trump‘s appearances in court may be his most effective form of politicking,” said Jonathan Turley, a constitutional law professor at George Washington University. “He is running against what he views as the weaponizing of the criminal justice system.”

“In that sense, these appearances take on a performative political meaning that clearly resonates with his followers,” he said. “The daisy-chaining of these trials until the election only magnifies the concerns of many voters.”

Still, there are some warning signs.

Polls show Republicans have rallied behind Mr. Trump because they believe there are sinister motives behind the legal charges. But the surveys also show that the public writ large is far less sympathetic to Mr. Trump than the GOP primary electorate, and more likely to think it is time for him to pay the piper.

“For the general election in 2024, it could be a problem,” Mr. Schmidt said.

It has made for some dramatic split-screen moments.

With Mr. Trump stuck in the courtroom, his Republican presidential rivals are racing across the early primary states trying to convince voters that the best way to boot Biden is to put forward a less radioactive nominee.

Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, at a recent campaign stop, said Mr. Trump’s over-the-top antics and undisciplined ways have alienated voters.

“If everything becomes a sideshow, if we have all this constant drama and chaos in the background, that detracts from your ability to actually get the job done,” Mr. DeSantis said.

Former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, who is rising in the polls, is hammering home the message that it is “time for a new generational leader.”

“We have got to get past the headlines of the past,” Ms. Haley said during a recent appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

As it stands, the signs suggest Mr. Trump’s rivals are battling it out to be the first loser — that is, unless the justice system takes him down.

Even then, though, there are lingering questions as to whether Mr. Trump would continue to carry out his campaign from behind bars, opening up the theoretical possibility he could pardon himself.

For now, Mr. Trump is pumping out his chest, telling voters he is willing to go to jail if it means strengthening the nation and exposing the evildoers whom he insists are destroying the nation.

“The people of our country understand it,” Mr. Trump said Thursday outside the Manhattan courtroom. “We are being railroaded.”

• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.