Donald Trump may not have been the most intelligent, honest, intellectual or capable president in American history but he is probably the most media savvy. He demonstrated that again over the weekend when he posted on his mislabeled Truth Social network a call to action by his supporters, telling them he was about to be indicted and arrested.
It was an attempt to revive his anemic presidential campaign with an inflammatory January 6-type call (“It’s going to be wild”) for his followers to “Protest, Take Our Nation Back.” A frequent response was “all hell will break loose.” Trump’s lawyer, Alina Habba, predicted on CNN an indictment “is going to cause mayhem.”
Trump adeptly used what was then only a rumor to dominate the national media, force some potential Republican rivals to come to his defense and raise more money. He was banned from social media two years ago and impeached for inciting a violent insurrection and now he’s back and calling for another uprising.
There is no reason not to take the threat of violence seriously. Local, state and federal law enforcement do and are preparing for it. The invertebrate House Speaker Kevin McCarthy meekly said, “We want calmness,” and quickly called on three of his most incendiary committee chairs to investigate the Manhattan district attorney. Anyone with a sense of irony will understand that McCarthy is doing just what he accused Democrats of doing: weaponizing their branch of government.
Responding to Trump's incitement
First to respond was the firebrand Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), an election denier and one of Trump’s most ardent supporters in the House, who chairs the new Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.
HE WANTS to grill Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg and his investigators and they are not federal officials and Congress has no jurisdiction over the Manhattan DA. But that won’t stop Jordan. Trump accused Bragg of “election interference,” which Jordan may echo.
If Republican leaders were frightened of another insurrection like the one that got Trump impeached for a second time, they were squeamish about saying so. He must be delighted to see so many people who privately hate him come to his defense because they’re afraid he’ll attack them next.
“Trump only profits and does well in chaos and turmoil.”
Chris Christie
Trump’s strategy was a mixture of putting potential rivals on the defensive, smearing prosecutors with a mixture of racist and antisemitic attacks, rallying his supporters and raising money. Former governor Chris Christie told ABC This Week, “Trump only profits and does well in chaos and turmoil.”
Trump attacked Bragg, who is black, for conducting a racist investigation financed by Jewish billionaire George Soros, the right’s favorite villain. It’s shouldn’t be a big problem for the disgraced former president because Jews and blacks consistently vote Democratic and he just gave them more reason to keep doing so. “Bragg is a (Soros) Racist in Reverse,” Trump posted.
More than energizing his base and contributors, Trump was taking aim at his potential GOP rivals, especially Ron DeSantis. When the Florida governor wasn’t quick enough to respond, Trump aides suggested that was bordering on treason, The New York Times reported. Trump posted, “It has been over 24 hours and some people are still quiet. History will judge their silence.” When the governor finally responded it was not to defend Trump – “I don’t know what goes into paying hush money to a pornstar” – but to attack Soros and Bragg.
Two South Carolinians, former ambassador Nikki Haley, an announced candidate and Sen. Tim Scott, a potential, didn’t spring to Trump’s defense either but he apparently considers them so inconsequential he hasn’t given them one of his trademarks mean nicknames.
Former vice president Mike Pence, who Trump was ready to let the mob lynch, was taken aback and attacked the DA as a radical leftist.
Trump has said he would continue running for the presidency even if he is indicted. He can look for inspiration to Boston’s legendary mayor, James Michael Curley, who was elected to Boston’s board of alderman while imprisoned on a fraud conviction.
Trump laid out his agenda for a second term in a speech this month to the Conservative Political Action Conference in a single sentence: “I am your retribution.” He probably meant “my” and not “your,” but he wanted his audiences to feel that all their grievances were shared.
HE HAD no platform in 2020, unless you count “more of the same” and is unlikely to have much more next year. His speeches tend to be more kvetching than illuminating. And very short on substance.
He’s been talking about building a dome over the entire country to protect against nuclear war, finishing his Mexican wall, outlawing teaching about racism, ending the war in Ukraine with a phone call to his friend Vlad the Invader, making Iran an offer it can’t refuse, pardoning the January 6 insurrectionists, protecting locker rooms from trans, banning abortions, arresting Hillary Clinton and all his enemies and whatever else comes to mind.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia), an avowed Christian nationalist who has become the voice and face of the MAGA House Republicans, is lobbying to be Trump’s running mate, said not just Blacks and Jews are behind the attacks on her hero but also the Communist Democrats.
Republicans who do not come to Trump’s defense will be “punished by the base,” she said. She predicted that if Trump is indicted “he will ultimately win even bigger than he is already going to win.”
Another Trump admirer agreed. Elon Musk tweeted, “If this happens, Trump will be reelected in a landslide.” And as the owner of Twitter, he can be expected to try to make that happen.
While Democrats are dreaming of campaign posters with Trump’s mugshot, they shouldn’t be too sanguine.
One potential Republican presidential candidate, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, warned Democrats they may be hurting themselves by building sympathy for Trump.
Trump is holding a MAGA rally in Waco, Texas, on Saturday and expecting a giant post-indictment turnout to show his legal problems only make him stronger. That is Trump country but it is still worth watching the crowd’s reaction to his litany of lies, grievances and insults.
It is difficult to forecast the impact of an indictment and arrest of the twice-impeached former president. It could motivate swing voters or even anti-Trump Republicans to come to vote for him or will that turn them away?
News media that did so much to boost his campaign in 2016 with constant coverage of his performances show little evidence of having learned anything from that and are likely to do the same this time if tied to a trial. They gave undue attention to his rumor of possible arrest this weekend. Trump is counting on more of the same.
The writer is a Washington-based journalist, a consultant, lobbyist and former American Israel Public Affairs Committee legislative director.