Donald Trump has never confronted real accountability for his fraudulent lifestyle, and I felt some satisfaction at the justice a jury of his peers delivered yesterday. And relief: I wasn’t sure the U.S. judicial system was capable of treating him like an ordinary citizen beholden to the law.
But his conviction lays bare an extremely disturbing reality. In the minutes following Trump’s conviction, the Republican Party united behind him in declaring this very normal, ordinary criminal case “rigged” and “corrupt.” This is pure bad faith: Republican officials know that Trump did exactly what he was convicted for doing. Of course he did. They know he was guilty of sexually assaulting E. Jean Carroll. They know he stole and illegally retrained classified national security documents. And they know that if he gets elected, he will commit many more crimes as he punishes his enemies and rewards his allies. They support him *because* of this knowledge, not in spite of it—even if they must pretend to believe he is a great guy persecuted by his enemies for no reason.
In five months, two competing factions vie for power. One is defending our flawed democracy, and the other is running on ending it. There is no way to conclude anything else: this is a party that defends Trump’s insurrection, no longer consents to losing elections, and will attack the judicial system that attempts to restrain it. Last night’s spectacle of Republican fawning and faux outrage—all the way to “moderate” Susan Collins of Maine—is proof of that reality. Trump is running to be the lawless leader of a party that is tired of being restrained by democracy. His party is 100% behind him. They are telling us what they believe and intend to do. That’s the choice.
It’s great Trump has been held accountable, but takes the stakes from a state of ambiguity to clarity. A felon is running for president, promising retribution and revenge. If he wins, that’s what we’ll get.
😬
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