The NY Times headline writers are romanticizing Trump as an “outlaw” like Butch Cassidy (the Paul Newman version.) The article paints a different picture. And it’s just plain creepy:
Over the past week, Donald J. Trump rallied alongside two rap artists accused of conspiracy to commit murder. He promised to commute the sentence of a notorious internet drug dealer. And he appeared backstage with another rap artist who has pleaded guilty to assault for punching a female fan.
As Mr. Trump awaits the conclusion of his Manhattan trial — closing arguments are set for Tuesday and a verdict could arrive as soon as this week — he used a weeklong break from court to align himself with defendants and convicted criminals charged by the same system with which he is at war.
The appearances fit neatly into Mr. Trump’s 2024 campaign, during which he has said he is likely to pardon those prosecuted for storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and lent his voice to a recording of the national anthem by a choir of Jan. 6 inmates.
There was a time when so much confirmed and alleged criminality would be too much to tolerate for supporters of a candidate for president, an office with a sworn duty to uphold the Constitution. That might have been especially true in the case of a candidate who has been indicted four times and stands accused of rank disregard for the law.
Yet with less than six months until Election Day, Mr. Trump, who has long pushed messaging about “law and order,” is leaning into an outlaw image, surrounding himself with accused criminals and convicts.
The list of indicted felons he routinely consorts with is a mile long and includes many of his co-defendants in the 88 felony indictments he’s facing as well. Now he’s taken to promising pardons to notorious drug dealers and accepting endorsements from rappers accused of violent felonies, not to mention all the insurrectionists of January 6th.
Mr. Trump’s most recent behavior took place against the backdrop of his lawyers’ arguments before the Supreme Court that he is immune from prosecution in the federal case over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. On social media, Mr. Trump has insisted presidents should have “absolute immunity.”
Despite arguing that he was acting within his rights, Mr. Trump has turned his criminal charges into a commodity. He sells campaign merchandise featuring his mug shot from his indictment in Georgia and aggressively raises money off claims that he is being persecuted.
He’ll put his name on anything if somebody wants to buy it. I suppose it was really only a matter of time before Americans embraced an outright criminal huckster as their leader. I guess I’m just surprised that it would be such a tawdry, obvious one. But I guess we’ve never been very subtle about anything.
The good news is that just as we don’t have to ever listen to the Christian right moralizing again we don’t have to listen to right wingers go on about ‘Law and order” any more. Just say the words “Donald Trump” any time they bring it up.