Surprisingly?
The right wingers are having themselves a good old-fashioned cry today. Or, more accurately, a full-blown tantrum. It’s just astonishing.
This is my favorite take on that by Philip Bump. He asks Republicans a question I wish everyone would ask:
“I’m running because far too often, we have two standards of justice — one for the rich and powerful and connected, and another for everyone else,” Bragg said in a video announcing his bid. “We must follow the facts wherever they lead, regardless of how influential the person under investigation is.”
In the years since, the idea that there are two standards of justice has been embraced by Bragg’s most prominent target: former president Trump. In Trump’s formulation, the issue isn’t that people in positions of influence are getting away with crimes. Instead, it’s that he — and theoretical others on the right — are being unfairly targeted by an out-of-control criminal justice system.
It’s an argument that holds enormous sway with Trump’s base of support and the broader right-wing media bubble that surrounds it. It is also an obvious extension of Trump’s long-standing rejection of any criticism, any investigation into him or his family. With Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts in Manhattan Criminal Court on Thursday, though, it would behoove Trump supporters and Republicans more broadly to consider an alternative view of that outcome and the other indictments Trump faces: They are a function not of some indirect effort to damage him politically but, instead, of the criminal justice system responding to violations of the law.
It would be beneficial to America if more Trump supporters entertained the idea that maybe he actually did something wrong.
No kidding. But that’s not going to happen. This MAGA GOP has a very unique populist philosophy. They believe that their (alleged) billionaire leader is being persecuted by a system that’s rigged against people like him.
Bump points out that this eternal whine is an umbrella that conveniently covers all of Trump’s misdeeds.
For America, though? For America, this rhetoric is dire. There is lots of objective evidence suggesting that Trump is not uniquely targeted by his political opponents but, instead, uniquely dishonest among American presidents and uniquely vulnerable to criminal prosecution. This was the argument made by special counsel Jack Smith in combating Trump’s argument that he had immunity from criminal prosecution for things he did as president: Trump’s actions were not comparable with past actions by American presidents.
Trump’s ascent within the Republican Party took advantage of increasing skepticism on the right about American institutions. He ran with that idea, building power in part by ripping it away from the Republican Party, the government and law enforcement. He has helped build enormous hostility to public officials tasked with combating crime for the simple reason that that often means combating him. This means that he has more political capital to undercut federal law enforcement should he return to office and that any further criminal prosecution will be granted the same skepticism as all the others.
This all flows from one failure by America’s political right: the refusal to even entertain the idea that Donald Trump broke the law and faces criminal indictment because he broke the law. They have come to terms with his other moral failings, from his affairs to his dishonesty. But Republicans generally refuse to consider that those failings extend further.
100%. I think they are probably afraid that if they let this idea creep into their minds their entire belief system will collapse. Trump is a con man and there is always a resistance to admitting that you might have been conned. But it will happen for some people eventually. Let’s hope it starts happening sooner rather than later.