This is bad news for Trump.
Or maybe not.
Democrats shouldn't be too quick to rejoice over the Trump Organization indictment. Trump may turn this into a positive.
The news today is an unusually stark reminder of the media silos that shape today's political environment. The headline news and top story in every media outlet that I would characterize as "mainstream"--CBS, NBC, ABC, and the major newspapers with national circulation, including the Wall Street Journal--all lead with the news that the Manhattan District Attorney filed criminal indictments against the Trump Organization and its chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg.
It was different at Fox.
Fox News consumers are learning that the most important thing happening in America is a black female athlete who won third place in the hammer throw event turned her back when the national anthem played. What an outrage! The story is an iteration of the one big overarching message at Fox News: White cultural grievance. They disrespect you, hate you, want to take the country from you. Who are they? People who aren't your kind of people--Black people, foreign people, elitist snob Democrats who don't pray to Jesus and respect the flag. Stories last night:
***Black teenagers attack a postal employee.
***Dangerous aliens at the border.
***More dangerous aliens at the border.
***Biden allowing a "tire fire" of chaos at the border.
***Trump at the border saying Biden is the worst president ever.
***Confederate hero statues removed from the Capitol
***National disgrace: Poll showing many Americans aren't proud of the country.
Fox News tells viewers how they should feel about this: blood-boiling angry.
Fox is making a subtle shift. It is de-Trumpifying. Prior to the election it glorified Trump. They had a mutually productive marriage. Trump brought audience; Fox brought adoration. The marriage endured a betrayal on election-night 2020 when Fox made an early announcement that Biden would win in Arizona. The foundation of Trump's election-fraud position was that there was no way Biden could win battleground states, and since a Biden victory was impossible any purported victory must be fraudulent. Trump and Fox have never fully reconciled.
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| Giddy |
Democrats on cable news seem giddy at the news of the criminal indictment. This may be a political dud. The Trump financial officer may decide to stay mum. Even if he flips and blames Trump, Trump may thrive. We already know that Trump is a financial finagler. Of course he cheats on his taxes. He is "smart." Trump never pretended to be an "Ask what you can do for your country" sort of person, nor a turn-your-cheek, walk-a-second-mile example of Christian charity. He is a winner, a tough guy who takes what is on the table. He reflects warrior virtues.
Journalists may think the correct news judgement is a criminal indictment of Trump's business. That makes sense; it is hard news. A disrespectful act by a little-known athlete is not. But the indictment does not mean this is the beginning of the end for Trump. He will hide under the skirts of ignorance of his complicated taxes. He relied on experts. It is a plausible argument. Everyone who files complicated taxes relies on experts. No one understands wealthy people's taxes, including wealthy people. 
Possibly indictment will help Trump--and I indeed expect that. Cheating on taxes is on-brand for Trump. It would be news to learn that Trump was scrupulous and overpaid out of caution or generosity. He survived politically in his direct assault on democracy in trying to void an election. Compared to that, this seems like a minor point, a back-door way to get at Trump, a form of prosecutorial finagling. It is entirely likely that a year from now the primary narrative and meaning of this indictment is disapproval of the DA for a political prosecution. The story will be that Trump just did what anyone else would have done with his taxes and he is unapologetic, that the real guilt lies with the tax code and prosecutors. Trump will be described as heroic and sacrificial, nailed to the cross of Democratic Trump derangement as a way to punish the millions of Trump supporters. They are out to get you, and Trump endured that cross on our behalf.
Thank God for Trump.
4 comments:
We'll soon see.
I agree that prosecutions of political figures are by their very nature, well, political. We expect our elected officials not to be criminals, so when one slips through it's always a sensation, and in this case there is the added element of celebrity. What I wonder about is how Trump has managed to elude authorities before now considering the evidence of longstanding fraud.
I agree that some have a romantic attachment to the idea of the "outlaw", as a role model. It's a fantasy, a manufactured fairy tale for childish minds, with origins in the transition from barbarism to civilization, evidence that we are still in the early stages of that journey as a species. A distinction can be made here between opposition to Regressive forces like oppression, and criminal opportunism masquerading as social rebellion.
At any rate, Trump's continuing influence on the Republican party is now increasingly becoming a sideshow, as they desperately try to position themselves as a credible alternative to anyone but the delusional. The investigations and prosecutions will continue, and they will have a political effect, but my guess is the net effect will be in favor of some long overdue justice.
There are many ambitious successors, and we'll soon see the knives coming out en masse.
The bigger news is from the Supreme Court upholding Arizona’s voting restrictions.
Are
Senators Manchin and Sinema?
Trump will go down like Al Capone did: for tax evasion (and Manafort, stone, and Cohen). And meanwhile, average Americans don’t have to work due to stimulus checks and enhanced unemployment benefits. Biden will continue to pump up the economy with the bipartisan infrastructure bill and a subsequent one under the reconciliation process. Like Gavin Newsom in the recall election, Biden will look pretty good for fattening wallets when compared to trump. Add Trump’s Covid inaction and more deaths to come for the unvaccinated, and Biden will get credit for re-opening the service economy in a mere six months. Biden should have no problem in a rematch against Trump, should he live that long. But if it's Harris, not so much…
I'm more concerned about the midterms. I'd like to believe the American people would never put a party in power whose leader staged an attempted coup, but if there were any truth to the cliche that voters aren't stupid, the Big Birther never would have become president.
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