Taking Responsibility, For the Sake of Justice
Republicans may wish there was no indictment, but they have a responsibility to respect America's system of justice—and avoid civic unrest
This must be stated right up top: The breadth and intensity of the attacks against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and the aggressive defense by Republicans of former President Donald J. Trump—before the charges against him have even been unsealed—are a dispiriting expression of how far the Republican Party has fallen.
We have heard no assertions of innocence or the judicious responsibility to wait and see the charges—nor any testimonials that Trump might not be guilty of crimes involving a hush payment to a porn star in the weeks before the 2016 election. No, we have only witnessed lock-step talk of political persecution and an unjust prosecutor.
The indictment had barely been made public when House Speaker Kevin McCarthy declared that Alvin Bragg was engaged in an “unprecedented abuse of power,” had “weaponized our sacred system of justice” and “has irreparably damaged our country.” This, without knowing the charges, was an “injustice,” which the American people “will not tolerate.” Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, within minutes of the news of the indictment, served up this tweet viewed by millions: “It is beyond belief that District Attorney Alvin Bragg has indicted a former President and current presidential candidate for pure political gain.”
It’s not just a matter of differing perspectives, fear of crossing Trump or even genuine questions about how and why this indictment is happening. Their quick-draw presumptions that the charges must be illegitimate are a demonstration of the GOP’s abdication of its basic responsibility—like any party that’s expected to govern—to respect justice and support the rule of law. Instead, their poisonous response on behalf of their man rather than our nation predicated on laws is setting a dangerous precedent for any subsequent indictments as it sows doubt about judicial legitimacy and pushes an authoritarian narrative.
Ruth Ben-Ghiat, author of the book Strongman about authoritarian demagogues and the newsletter Lucid, makes clear that these Republicans are employing the classic playbook that does harm to democracy. “Turning the public against media, judges, prosecutors and investigators who can expose his corruption is a strongman specialty,” she noted this weekend. “They start grooming followers to accept these narratives while they are still candidates. It is their insurance policy.”
Greg Sargent, in a smartly reasoned Washington Post column about the “unhinged GOP response,” explains the test our democracy, including the media, is facing—and it’s not the fact that Trump has been indicted. “If our democracy is being ‘tested,’” Sargent writes, “it's largely because Republicans are casting the entire process as inherently illegitimate in advance. Media accounts of the ‘test’ we face that don't centralize this end up erasing GOP agency from the equation.”
Sargent also notes the incendiary, inciting remarks from Fox News host Jesse Waters—”People better be careful,” he warned—as well as Tucker Carlson who threateningly insisted this is “probably not the best time to give up your AR-15s.”
Sargent’s summation of the “appalling civic conduct”: “The position implied here is that the price of social peace is absolute impunity for Trump. The insistence that Trump must be kept above the law—no matter his wrongdoing—courses through all these GOP responses. Media accounts should centralize this fact.”
Indeed, they should.
All that said, it’s also important to remember that the majority of Americans disagree with this MAGA-minded hostility to justice and refusal to hold the former White House occupant accountable for his actions, no matter his criminal culpability. As a national poll from NPR, PBS NewsHour and Marist Institute for Public Opinion found last week, most Americans (56 percent) think the investigations into Trump are fair. That includes 87 percent of Democrats and 51 percent of Independents, although only one in five Republicans.
The survey also found that “most Americans perceive Trump has engaged in improper behavior.” There’s less clarity about whether the behavior rises to the level of illegality (46 percent say they think so) or is just something unethical (another 29 percent). The pollsters only counted 23 percent who insist Trump has done nothing wrong, which nonetheless is hard to fathom unless you study the hold that cult leaders can have on their followers.
We can take some calm from the fact that, however vocal and aggressive MAGA Republicans may be in standing by their beloved leader, most Americans recognize the need to investigate him and most (61 percent per Marist) do not want him to return to the White House. (Yes, it’s hard to believe the number wanting him in control of the levers of power is nearly 40 percent.)
Meanwhile, Greg Sargent reminds Democrats that it’s possible Bragg’s prosecution will not be strong enough to withstand the defense, and that they have a civic responsibility to accept an acquittal. “If Trump is acquitted of these charges and any other ones, Democrats will have to reinforce the idea that the process rendered its verdict and that it must be respected,” he writes. “If the process is dubious, Democrats should absolutely say so.”
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, nor be unduly influenced by the GOP’s logic. As we await Tuesday’s unsealing and Trump’s arrest—and gird ourselves for his hostile attacks when released—we should not be drawn into the mistaken premise that the unprecedented nature of this event is any reason to question its legitimacy. As historian Kevin Kruse noted yesterday, “This country has prosecuted and convicted government officials at all levels—mayors, state legislators, governors, judges, US representatives, US senators, Cabinet officials, White House officials and even a vice president. Sorry, former presidents aren't exempt.”
The coming weeks and months, as fraught with violent threats and ugly accusations as they are certain to be, are an opportunity to see our justice system in service to the most fundamental principle: No one is above the law.
And as determined as Donald J. Trump has been throughout his adult life to prove that the law does not apply to him, we can finally watch the wheels of justice turning in sweet motion (no matter how slow). However much conflict may pulse through our body politic in this unfolding, unprecedented period—from New York to Georgia to Florida and Washington, DC—I’d still insist we are facing good times ahead. This is the necessary path to repair.
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Sadly, the one and only conclusion I can draw from the Republican reaction is 1) They know the charges are true 2) They intend to counter them by any means in order to 3) Replace our democracy with autocratic/fascist rule. It’s up to us to make sure that this doesn’t happen.
The fact that some media continue to report the GOP drivel in a “fair and balanced” way, gives it more legitimacy than it deserves. Which is none at all. So much destructive nonsense was allowed to pass on the Sunday shows yesterday that it was maddening. The MSM is complicit in their failure to show truth to the liars.