by Domenico Maceri * –
SAN LUIS OBISPO (USA). Shortly after the recent indictment of New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez on fraud and corruption charges, 31 fellow Democrats in the upper house said he should resign. Donald Trump, former president of the United States, has been indicted four times, twice in state courts and twice in federal courts, but none of the Republicans have indicated that he should abandon his bid for a second presidential term. Even his opponents for the nomination supported Trump, asserting that if he wins the primaries, they will vote for him in the 2024 presidential elections. The only candidate for the nomination to distance himself from Trump was Chris Christie, former governor of New Jersey, who he was booed by the audience for his “betrayal” to Trump.
Republicans considered themselves the party of law and order, but with Trump at their leadership they forgot respect for the law or perhaps pretended to believe in it. Indeed, when the former president faces court cases, they go out of their way to downplay his legal troubles, focusing exclusively on the political aspects. One of the statements that is often mentioned is that voters should decide not only whether the former president is guilty, but of course also whether to grant him a second term in the top office.
Trump managed to inoculate himself politically from court cases, running again for the party’s nomination and hoping for an eventual return to the presidency. In fact, the former president seems to have the nomination almost in his pocket. The polls would give him 50 percent of the votes in the primaries, even if the votes are still distant. His opponents don’t seem to intimidate him at all and that’s why he didn’t show up at the first two debates organized by Fox News. These two occasions would have been good opportunities to attack him, but the only one to take advantage of them was Christie. The former governor of New Jersey so far would have very little chance, and he hopes to be successful in the New Hampshire primaries so as not to lose all hope, but he finds himself in fourth place in the polls.
Trump not only controls the primaries for the nomination but also the party in general, especially with his ability to use his name and influence the lists of candidates for the House and to a slight extent also for the Senate. Trump’s endorsement in the primary is worth its weight in gold, as the vast majority of parliamentary districts are drawn so that the winner of the primary will also emerge victorious in the general election.
Trump’s power is seen to a great extent in the intimidation he wields to maximum effect. Members of his party who “go astray” are punished not only politically, but also threatened by his supporters. Republican Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, who voted for Trump’s two impeachments (2019, 2021), was threatened by the former president’s supporters and had to spend $5,000 a day to protect his family. Many others in the House continue to remain silent, fearing Trump’s attacks, also due to the fact that they could not afford enormous expenses to protect their families, not having Romney’s economic resources.
This use of inflammatory language that often leads to violence was already in evidence in the 2016 election campaign and continued during his presidency. In recent times, feeling besieged by indictments, the volume has increased. These days he almost attacks New York State Attorney Letitia James, who has indicted him and his company for fraud. Right in front of the court where her trial is taking place, the former president attacked her, accusing her of racism, encouraging those listening to “persecute” her. Trump even directly targeted trial judge Arthur Ergoron and his close aide. The attack was too much for the judge, who placed a gag order on Trump from arguing on social media and in person. A post on Trump’s Truth Social site has been removed. The judge threatened serious consequences, but did not include James or himself as deserving of protection.
Trump knows full well that his words have consequences. The assaults on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 are the most obvious example, as confirmed by Cassidy Hutchinson, close collaborator of Mark Meadows, right-hand man of the former president in the White House (2020-2021). In an interview with the Public Broadcasting System (PBS), Hutchinson said that Trump recognizes the weight of his language, which is becoming increasingly apocalyptic these days.
Neither the courts nor his party’s leaders have been able to control the inflammatory language that has become typical of Trump. His words often echo extremisms that make one think of the Nazis. In one of the most inflammatory statements, Trump said that migrants are “poisoning the blood of the country”, with obvious references to the words expressed by Adolf Hitler about the Jews. Trump even said that the chief of staff during his and Joe Biden’s administrations, recently retired General Mark Milley, deserved to be “executed.” And he didn’t even spare Biden with absolutely indecent phrases accusing him of being “a great son of…”.
The current occupant of the White House, recognizing that the Republican Party in Trump’s hands is moving towards authoritarianism, recently declared that the extremist wing represents a threat to democracy. He is right and this is why he ran in 2020 to protect democracy from Trump’s dictatorial currents, as his admiration for Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un also shows us. The situation has now gotten worse as the justice system tries to impose limits on Trump. He responds with numerous lawyers, but above all by asserting that the cases against him initiated after 2021 are all of a political nature, seeing himself as the standard-bearer of his party. He forgets that as president he had immunity, but once he left the White House his potentially illegal actions were left defenseless. It is difficult for him to digest the new situation which could change diametrically in the event of his victory in the 2024 presidential elections. In this event Trump would have many more powers which he would not hesitate to use to punish his “enemies”, and at the same time put democracy is in serious danger.
* Domenico Maceri, PhD, is professor emeritus at Allan Hancock College, Santa Maria, California. Some of his articles have won awards from the National Association of Hispanic Publications.
