A new precedent in American history. US presidents have always been shielded from indictmentы, especially those that are criminal, but now that taboo has been broken. Let’s try to figure out what the consequences await President Donald J. Trump and the nation of the United States? Clearly, the democracy of the United States is undergoing its greatest test.
Asking yourself — can this US precedent tear US apart? Doesn’t this look to most Americans like victorious justice, where former leaders are imprisoned by their successors? And can this be a moment of supreme justice, when even the previously most powerful person on earth bears retribution for his deeds, because the law is above all? We are definitely stepping into uncharted waters and only time will tell what is there.
All eyes on Trump
The historical indictment not only returned Donald Trump to the information field, but placed him at the forefront of all the media.
After leaving the White House, he organically became less interesting for the press. There’s new president, new faces, new faces have new budgets, goals, and so on. Moreover, Mr. Trump disappeared from Fox News, almost his native media resource, for more than a quarter. And now, Mr. Trump is truly back, his supporters are back, the whole MAGA movement is up and running again. Even Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis conceded the front pages of news resources.
Mr. Trump’s actions
Behind closed doors, Donald Trump is rumored to be welcoming his circle to the opportunity to reassemble the crowd of reporters and be the one that will be shown on all TV screens. He allegedly does not even hesitate to think about what role he should play in front of television cameras, whether he should frown, smile etc. But is it bravado or is he really seriously concerned about everything down to the smallest detail af everything that is coming?
The fact that Trump attracts a lot of attention, television shows with the participation of the ex-president generate increased interest among viewers, readers of newspapers and media receive more clicks if the news is about Donald J. Trump. Naturally, the ex-president himself knows about this, saying that “without me, their [mass media] ratings are declining.”
Mr Trump lost the 2020 election. But it is clear that he is ready to remain in the center of the media in the near future. And he certainly counts on additional dividends from this story and, as a result, will be able to compete for the presidency again.
And what about the Democrats?
Joseph Biden avoids comments in every possible way. The Democrats understand that any comment they make will be used as an opportunity to attack them and accuse them of being political payback and a Democratic political conspiracy against Trump. The President should not comment on contentious litigation — this is the official position. For the most part, it was like that before, just before Trump. Kamala Harris, a former prosecutor, also declined to answer questions about Donald Trump: “I’m not going to comment on the ongoing criminal case against the former president,” she said. All this suggests that there is no desire in the Biden administration to raise the temperature even higher. At least for now.
But if the officials are silent, then those people who rotate in the orbit of the influence of the Democrats, on the contrary — they criticize. All this tells us that Trump is not just a strong opponent, but also unpredictable, intractable and actually inconvenient for Democrats. He is an opponent with whom it is difficult to seek compromise solutions on any issue and who is not afraid to open the curtain on what is usually decided behind closed doors.
Consequences of indictment
Let’s take a look at the positions of the players on the chess political board and give some input:
- Does this precedent split the country? Definitely yes. Society is radicalizing as the stakes in the game are raised.
- Does Trump have many supporters? Definitely yes, especially since he attracts a huge amount of attention, including through sharp criticism of opponents. It is difficult to debate with him, he is sometimes too straightforward. All this makes him an interesting and colorful person in the American establishment.
- Can Trump run for a second term? Definitely yes. Under federal law, the indictments against Donald J. Trump pose no obstacle to his ongoing 2024 presidential campaign. And if he can turn the situation with the prosecution in his favor, then his chances of winning the race for the presidency could seriously increase.
- Can the legal system falter in a contentious case? Yes, in the case of an uncertain evidence base and a conviction, the situation may look impartial. As well as vice versa, if the prosecutors falter in the indictment because they have a former president in front of them, this will be a message of impunity.
Considering the accusations impartially and a little condescendingly, it may seem to many that the resonance is much greater than the actual essence of the accusation. This view is even shared by some of those who would like to hold Donald Trump accountable for more significant corruption scandals. For example, Van Jones, a former Obama official, openly criticizes that by saying “A porn star payoff seven years ago, somehow tied to the election, but not really — it doesn’t seem like the right way to go.”
What about incitement to violence?
Reminder
Trump is believed to have used his social media to incite violence on Capitol Hill in Washington when the US Congress buildings were occupied. After this incident, in January 2021 Facebook and Twitter considered, at their discretion, but not by court order, that further messages from the President of the country could pose a threat to the safety and health of society, and decided to temporarily restrict the access of the first person of the State to social media.
If we analyze the impeachment story and the fact that the case almost came to a power coup, if we take into account how much Mr. Trump aggravated his behavior then, it becomes clear that there are much more reasons for a trial. This is a much more significant event than quiet cash payments to Mr. Trump’s mistresses. This is not a suggestion to slow everything down, but let’s correlate the significance of events.
But be that as it may, the stakes are raised, which means that the risks also increase. The continuation of the story with the indictment promises to be extremely interesting.
