“Alvin Bragg has irreparably damaged our country in an attempt to interfere in our Presidential election,” commented House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. “The American people will not tolerate this injustice, and the House of Representatives will hold Alvin Bragg and his unprecedented abuse of power to account.”
“This is more about revenge than it is about justice,” said Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, who is herself running for the Republican nomination.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis—Trump’s chief rival for the nomination—announced that his state “will not assist in an extradition request” in the Trump case.
Even conservatives who aren’t Trump supporters expressed qualms.
For instance, former Rep. Peter Meijer (R-Mich.)—who voted to impeach Trump—reupped a statement from last week: “We’re going to indict a former President for, essentially, misdemeanor falsification of business records? We’re crossing the Rubicon for that? That seems like f—ing weak sauce.” Noting that “the feds looked at and declined to move forward on” charges against Trump related to the Daniels payment, Meijer continued: “There are other more serious cases against Trump brought by more sober parties. Alvin Bragg fulfilling a campaign promise to target Trump on these shaky grounds is an historic misstep.”
Some Republicans were disappointed in these types of reactions.
“Why can’t a single one of Trump’s challengers get this right?!” tweeted Heath Mayo, of the reformist conservative group Principles First. “It’s literally the easiest lay-up he could possibly give you and no one seems able to take it. Easy: ‘The rule of law is paramount & no one is above it. I respect our legal system. The outcome will speak for itself.'”
“Seems to me that no one outraged or pretending outrage on behalf of Donald Trump actually tries to claim he’s not guilty,” Bill Kristol tweeted.
OK, I’m sick of all the pretend indignation by Republicans terrified of Trump and/or Trump supporters.
I dare them all: Say you believe Trump is innocent.
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) March 31, 2023
Meanwhile, Bill O’Reilly suggested that Trump’s prosecution would distract from more important issues:
.@BillOReilly joins @ChrisCuomo to weigh in on the indictment of Donald Trump: “Now, we’re going to have more hatred. … We’ve got a lot of problems to solve here in America, but they’re not gonna be solved. It’s gonna be all about Trump.”
Watch #CUOMO: https://t.co/s8z9kEhjMw pic.twitter.com/QZNTJBkmja
— NewsNation (@NewsNation) March 31, 2023
But the Republicans rushing to Trump’s defense vastly outnumbered other types of responses. And this “scramble to come to Trump’s defense” might prove “a pivotal moment” in Trump’s comeback, suggests Time‘s Molly Ball:
Just a few months ago, Republicans’ disappointing performance in the midterms marked the third straight national election Trump tanked for the GOP, and a new consensus began to form: he was weak, a loser, yesterday’s news. With at least five civil and criminal investigations percolating and a new generation of candidates in the mix, it was finally time for Republicans to cut the cord.
But when the time came to actually stand up to him, Trump’s primary rivals and political enablers were too cowardly or calculating to throw much of a punch.
While Trump’s campaign launch was lackluster, the indictment may prove the jolt it needs among his own party.
Indeed, “Trump’s indictment…breathes new life into his favorite campaign tactic—running as the aggrieved victim of a Democratic-run Deep State hellbent on keeping him and his supporters out of power,” writes Mark Niquette at Bloomberg. “Just when Republicans were beginning to believe that Trump was vulnerable if he ran a campaign about all the people he believes are out to punish him, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg gave the one-term ex-president no reason to change his tune.”
Fox News hosts who had been souring on Trump (at least in private) also rushed publicly to his defense yesterday.
Democrats, Media Want More
Meanwhile, a lot of Democrats have been expressing variations on the same sentiment—look, no one is above the law!—while suggesting that Trump could or should be indicted for more serious transgressions.
“No one is above the law,” tweeted Rep. Chuy Garcia (D-Ill.). “Still, the former President’s crimes go far beyond what he has been indicted for here.”
“No one in this country is above the law—including former President Trump,” said Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) in a statement, calling the Manhattan indictment “only the beginning” of how Trump should be held accountable. “It’s time that we ensure Trump is banned from running for any public office again and from there, finally take action to fix our democracy.”
Some commentators suggested that this indictment could somehow get the ball rolling on other charges. “Other pending cases involving Jan. 6, classified records, and election interference are much more straightforward,” wrote Slate‘s Mark Joseph Sten. “Perhaps Bragg’s move will embolden other prosecutors to bring charges related to the former president’s alleged misconduct in these arenas. If so, that domino effect may be the case’s most important legacy.”
That’s not really how prosecutions work. But it is a good example of the liberal wishcasting around this prosecution.
Other media outlets suggested this prosecution was a mistake precisely because it might detract from other, more serious prosecutions.
“The legal case against him in Fulton County, Georgia, where he is accused of interfering with election results looks much stronger. If Donald Trump is to be prosecuted, it should be for something that cannot be dismissed as a technicality,” tweeted The Economist.
“Of the long list of alleged violations, the likely charges on which a grand jury in New York state voted to indict him are perhaps the least compelling,” editorialized The Washington Post. “A failed prosecution over the hush-money payment could put them all in jeopardy, as well as provide Mr. Trump ammunition for his accusations of ‘witch hunt.'”
