He’s the biggest liar in the history of the presidency, which is a high bar to clear, but he’s cleared it.
Chris Christie (on Donald Trump)
I have one Republican sister-in-law who thinks Trump defied the Constitution on January 6, and another who thinks he defended the Constitution on that day. The former wants him in jail, and the latter wants him in the White House. Most of my family and friends are somewhere in between. Such is the sad state of a GOP that needs to rationalize Trump before Iowa.
Who in their right mind would bet on Donald Trump? He faces a total of 78 charges across three criminal cases, including 44 federal and 34 state felony charges in three jurisdictions. The GOP can cry “politically motivated prosecution” until he’s found guilty, ruled ineligible, and incarcerated. And then what, bake a cake with a hacksaw in it? The simple fact remains that Trump’s put the entire 2024 ballot at risk.
One can assume the investigations were politically motivated and the grand jury indictments were influenced by partisan lawyers. One can NOT deny that a “guilty” verdict from a jury, as prescribed by the constitution, is the law. If Republicans don’t respect the rulings of judges and juries (over this man), we’re as bad as Joe Biden says we are.
The US judiciary is the least political branch of our government, which is why Trump filed 63 lawsuits to reverse the 2020 election. He went 0-63, which is why hard-right pundits pooh-pooh the many cases against Trump. That’s just politics, but Trump is at real risk of being ruled guilty. Lawfare explained the charges against him this weekend.
19 U.S.C. 371 makes it illegal for two or more people to “conspire either to commit any offense against the United States, or to defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose.” The Supreme Court has already interpreted this to include actions that “interfere with or obstruct one of its lawful governmental functions by deceit, craft, or trickery, or at least by means that are dishonest.”
18 U.S.C. 241 makes it illegal for two or more people to “conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person [in] the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States.” The Supreme Court has already ruled this includes a “range of election interference schemes, including those aimed at preventing individuals from casting votes [or] seeking to deprive cast votes of their lawful effect.”
The public record provides evidence that Trump tried to replace real electors, pressure state officials to falsify vote counts, and force the vice president to block certification of the electoral vote. Today, 57% of voters want Trump tried before the primaries, and 62% want his trials to occur before the presidential election (source: Politico). The number of 2020 Trump voters saying they believe Trump did “nothing wrong” has dropped from 50% to 41% (source: NPR).
Even worse, 63% of Independents have soured on Trump, making him un-electable (source: Ipsos). This means the GOP must move on. The left’s tactical attacks on Trump, begun long before January 6, are strategically one attack upon Republicans and their policies so long as he’s atop the ticket. If the DNC did game the 2020 election and wants to face Trump again, expect the same outcome in 2024 because “Trump” was THE Democrat talking point in the last three elections.
They coined “Trumpism” as a pejorative to belittle popular GOP positions, and conjured up “Trump cult” to turn off college-educated voters, winning 59% of them in 2018, 55% in 2020, and 54% in 2022. After watching Ron DeSantis win 56% of that vote (and Tim Scott win 63%) in 2022, the DNC’s media allies began running daily “invincible Trump” stories to demoralize that half of the GOP who want a fresh face atop the ticket.
If you doubt the left can get into a Republican’s head, consider the political parable of Liz Cheney. Riding Trump’s coattails in 2016, she won, and voted in line with his position 92.9% of the time. Siding with Democrats against Trump in 2021, she was ousted by Wyoming’s GOP a year later. If she had not allied with Democrats, she’d still be doing the people of Wyoming’s work in Congress. That’s the Trump Paradox.
Cheney was outraged by Trump’s stolen-election scheme, but not by Clinton and Biden suborning their followers. She talks ad nauseam about helping the select committee save America from Trump, but says nothing about helping Biden forever change America in a bad way. Cheney’s lesson is simple: see the long game, because Democrats do.
Less than 29% of voters support Biden’s positions on climate and energy, immigration, and transgenders, so Republicans should at least consider Chris Christie’s warning: “Trump can’t win. By the time we get to the debate stage, he will probably be out on bail in four different jurisdictions.” How the debates showcase the options to Trump is now everything, especially to Republicans in the House and Senate. It could get ugly.
The late P.J. O’Rourke issued this warning: “The Republicans are the party that says government doesn’t work and then they get elected and prove it.” I hope that doesn’t apply to the party’s voters.