Was This Really a Trump Press Conference?
A day after he was convicted on 34 counts related to election interference and falsifying business records, Trump announced that he would hold a press conference. Media outlets touted it as an event where he would finally be asked the uncomfortable questions he’s been avoiding. For hours, the media teased about what they saw as the ultimate opportunity to make him answer for his crimes.
For anyone who has been watching him over the past several years it will come as no surprise that, instead of the back-and-forth, question-and-answer session, this trump press conference was the typical rambling and airing of grievances we’ve seen countless times.
Reporters, anxious to pin him down, were left with their questions unanswered as Trump didn’t take a single query. Instead, he rambled on in his usual incoherent manner, with unfinished sentences and lots of repetition, before walking away.
Circling the Wagons
Even before the jury left the courthouse, Republicans had their anger machine in overdrive. The party that once prided itself on defending law and order immediately began attacking the judge, jury, and legal system at large. They took to the airwaves to condemn the process as nothing more than politically motivated, that the jury was biased and the judge who presided over the case was a Biden supporter whose party affiliation prevented him from rendering an unbiased ruling.
The beleaguered Speaker of the House, who fled to Mar a Lago to kiss the ring in order to stave off a threat to his leadership, called the verdict ‘shameful’ and urged the Supreme Court to step in and reverse the ruling upon appeal. He even attended one day of the trial, after which he echoed Trump’s claim that the process was politically motivated by a corrupt justice department that had been weaponized to defeat Donald Trump.
Mitch McConnell
The outgoing Senate Minority Leader, who has been dubbed ‘Moscow Mitch’ for his favorable rulings towards Trump with regard to the Russia investigation, claimed the charges should have never been brought in the first place.
Elise Stefanik
Once a fierce Trump critic, Stefanik has watched her star rise as she began aligning herself with the MAGA faction. So, it should come as no surprise that she defended him. She remained in lockstep with this group following the verdict by parroting Trump’s claim that he was being persecuted by a corrupt and rigged justice system.
Tim Scott
Like the others, Scott blasted the ruling and declared that it would only embolden Trump’s base to propel him to victory in November. He then made the peculiar twist of claiming Trump did more for Blacks than any other president. He conveniently forgot Trump’s calling BLM protestors ‘thugs’, or his threats of violence against them (When the looting starts, the shooting starts).
The congressman who has repeatedly called for investigations into journalists who have written pieces critical of Trump is now demanding the judge in the case, Juan Merchan, be investigated for violating Trump’s First Amendment rights by imposing the gag order during the trial.
The lone outlier amongst Republicans, Larry Hogan, has been threatened by the Trump campaign. His crime? While he didn’t applaud the decision, he urged members of his party to respect the decision. This led Trump’s senior aide Chris LaCivita to declare that Hogan’s campaign for senate was effectively dead.
There is no small amount of hypocrisy in Republicans calling the trial politically motivated. After all, Trump’s first impeachment was based on his attempt to coerce a world leader into providing damaging information on his 2020 opponent, Joe Biden. They continue to hold endless hearings that they claim will eventually find irrefutable evidence of some form of corruption.
Each time they say they have found the smoking gun that proves this, they end up with egg their faces, yet they continue to hold hearings in a vain effort to demonstrate that any appearance of impropriety is enough to declare that Biden is unfit for office.
Republicans claim the proceedings involving Trump are the result of the weaponization of the Department of Justice. Yet, the Congressional committee they formed to investigate this accusation only uncovered wrongdoing during the Trump administration. During his tenure, Trump had the IRS, FBI, and other government agencies investigate his perceived enemies
The Democratic Response
Democrats have remained largely silent since the verdict was announced, keeping in line with the approach they took during the trial. Perhaps they want to be the magnanimous victors or maybe they don’t want to give any fuel to the MAGA claim that the entire process is politically motivated.
At a speaking engagement on the night the verdict was announced, Trump’s one-time opponent, Hillary Clinton, was able to get in a well-timed dig without mentioning Trump’s name. As she opened her speech, she quipped, “Anything going on today?” which caused to audience to burst into laughter and applause.
President Biden responded to Trump’s reaction to the verdict by calling him reckless and irresponsible. He further stated that it was dangerous for Trump to call the trial rigged, indicating it could possibly result in violence. He further reiterated that no one is above the law.
The message Democrats are unified in presenting is not to gloat, but to be thankful that justice has prevailed. Perhaps as election day gets closer, they will sharpen their approach. After all, the prospect of having a convicted felon in the White House should be a bridge too far for most Americans.
There is a lot to unravel from the current political climate. Unfortunately, there won’t be any answers forthcoming during any Donald Trump press conference.