Come closer, ladies and gentlemen. Approach quickly and take a seat: the circus begins right now! The spotlight is on Donald Trump as the persecuted clown as American democracy balances.
A sad sight, indeed.
Anyone other than Trump would have ended his political career by receiving 34 criminal charges, a first for a US president. But Trump, he has always been fueled by scandals.
” Grab ’em by the pussy »? Carefree. Voters voted for him in 2016, despite this odious registration where he boasted of being able to attack women.
Today, it’s another story of morals that catches up with him. He allegedly paid porn actress Stormy Daniels US$130,000 to silence their sexual relationship, a payment believed to be an illegal campaign contribution.
Trump denies everything. But as a good king of entertainment, he announced himself that he would be arrested a few days ago, taking care to place himself in the posture of a martyr to unleash the anger of his supporters.
Back at his Florida home in Mar-a-Lago, he turned his indictment into an all-out political fight. Overturning the cannons, he said the only crime he committed was defending the “nation against those who seek to destroy it”.
The far-right passionaria with her eye on a possible vice-presidential candidate, Marjorie Taylor Green, even went so far as to make a preposterous comparison between Trump and other “incredible people who have been arrested in history” such as Nelson Mandela and Jesus Christ.
Trump and Jesus in the same boat, have to do it!
But shouting political vendetta pays off. Donald Trump’s team claims to have raised 7 million US dollars since the announcement of his indictment. And the former president has considerably widened his lead in the polls, with 57% of the voting intentions against 31% for his rival for the Republican nomination Ron DeSantis, who nevertheless seemed in good shape after the poor results of the Trumpists in the elections of mid-term.
Clearly, the indictment strengthened the Trump brand. For him, it’s a win-win. If he is cleared, he will claim that he was right. If convicted, he will continue to cry political persecution, saying his trial will make the United States look like a “banana republic.”
However, there are no shortage of examples of heads of state all over the world who have been caught by the courts. Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was found guilty of bribery and influence peddling and former Italian President Silvio Berlusconi of tax evasion.
Far from proving that France and Italy are banana republics, it rather confirms that no one is above the law, not even a president. Not even Donald Trump who will not be able to plead political persecution forever.
Other trials are hanging over him, in particular for having tried to overturn the result of the presidential election in Georgia. Unable to swallow his defeat in 2020, Trump threatened the key state’s election chief to “find him 11,780 votes”.
This case is much more serious than the Stormy Daniels case. But it is also much clearer, since the conversation was recorded. Also, the caller was a Republican, so Trump can’t play the victim.
Nevertheless, he continues his circus, bombarding the institutions of his country. The electoral process? Rigged! The media? fake news ! The elite ? Deep State ! Courts ? Biased!
With his scorched earth strategy, he puts the checks and balances to the floor. His refusal to play by the rules of the game led to the storming of the Capitol, the very symbol of American democracy. A crumbling democracy, while foreign dictatorships have never been so threatening since the end of the cold war.
The arsonist role that Donald Trump played in this assault should discredit him for a new presidency.