The reactions to his guilty verdict say a lot about the true nature of Donald Trump, his party and the authoritarian turn he promises if he returns to the White House.
We already had a pretty good idea of who Donald Trump was: inveterate liar, fraudster and sexual predator, among other distinctions.
Now, no matter what he says, he is also a convicted criminal.
Trump refuses to accept the outcome of a trial unless he wins it, just as he already refused to accept the results of an election unless he wins. In short, he despises the institutions of his country, except those he manipulates to his advantage.
Conversely, Joe Biden says he will accept the result of his son’s trial and that he would renounce granting him a presidential pardon if he is convicted.
A cult
The aftermath of the judgment confirms that the Republican Party has become a cult. We knew this, since Trump had succeeded in making adherence to the “big lie” during the 2020 election a test of loyalty to the party.
Now the so-called “party of law and order” is rejecting a court verdict and showering millions on the Trump campaign (see below).
Even though the evidence convinced twelve jurors beyond a reasonable doubt, it is forbidden to admit that the cult leader could have committed any fault whatsoever.
In Maryland, Republican Senate candidate Larry Hogan dared to defy this dictate. The party threatens to cut off his funds, even if he had a chance of winning this “blue” state. It seems more important for Trump to control his party than for the party to control the Senate.
Meanwhile, a Democratic senator is on trial and the only calls for his resignation are coming from his own party.
Authoritarian turn
We already knew Donald Trump’s penchant for authoritarianism and his rather personal conception of the rule of law. His reaction to his trial verdict confirms these perceptions.
In an interview with Fox News, Trump promised to convict those who committed the crime of opposing him or hold him accountable for his actions.
A master in the art of projection, he accuses his opponents of behaving like autocrats when this is precisely what he intends to do himself.
For Trump, the election is primarily about avoiding prison and wreaking vengeance. All his convicted allies will benefit from his presidential pardon, including those involved in the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Law and order is for others.
Even if the verdict clarifies things (a little), it is not yet clear that the electorate has fully understood what it would mean to bring to power a convicted criminal, supported by a cult, who intends to act like an autocrat.
Polls suggest his conviction could take enough votes away from him to defeat him, but the margin remains slim.
Quote of the week:
“When this election is over, given what they did to me, I will have every right to attack them.”
– Donald Trump, in an interview with host Sean Hannity on Fox News on Wednesday (June 5), insisted that he would seek to use the justice system for retribution against his political opponents, without specifying what crimes they committed could have been guilty.
Number of the week
$53 million
The amount of donations collected in Donald Trump’s campaign in 24 hours after the announcement of the New York trial verdict, allowing Trump to make up for his funding shortfall against Biden (New York Times, May 31, 2024). Most of these funds come from multimillionaires who stand to gain from seeing the tax cuts introduced by Trump in 2017 extended.
The lie detector
In an interview with Fox News on June 2, Donald Trump said he never called for Hillary Clinton’s imprisonment or uttered his 2016 campaign slogan, “Lock Her Up.”
FAKE
This is a lie and a shameless attempt to rewrite history. The media have listed dozens of examples and quotes where Trump says he wants his 2016 rival to be incarcerated, most of the time without going through legal hassles like producing evidence or going to trial.
Photo of the week
Here we see emergency services coming to the aid of the dozen Donald Trump supporters who suffered from heatstroke during a rally in Phoenix, Arizona, in temperatures of more than 45 degrees Celsius, on Thursday June 6.
In Phoenix, Arizona, a dozen supporters had to be hospitalized Thursday after being exposed to temperatures exceeding 45 degrees Celsius while waiting to enter a Donald Trump rally. This rally was held in the middle of the day, as Trump was scheduled to meet with donors that evening.
AFP
