Former US president Donald Trump speaks during an event in West Palm Beach, Florida, on April 4. Trump pleaded not guilty in a Manhattan courtroom to 34 counts related to money paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016, the first criminal charges for any former US president. Photo: AFP
Opinion
Thomas O. Falk
Thomas O. Falk
Guilty or innocent, Trump’s attacks on US justice system are having the desired destructive effect
The main issue surrounding the former US president’s arraignment is the damage being done by his railing against public institutions
Public faith in these institutions and the law has suffered greatly from his continuous attacks over the years, giving Trump exactly what he wants
Former US president Donald Trump’s arraignment last week dominated the headlines. For the first time in US history, a former or current president has been indicted. However, the primary issue regarding these developments must not be whether Trump will be found guilty but how much more damage his continuing delegitimisation of the US justice system will cause.
His first public appearance after the arraignment left little doubt that he would seek to use the indictments for his political agenda and continue his disregard for the justice system he displayed during his time in office. Speaking to supporters at Mar-a-Lago in West Palm Beach, Florida, Trump called the indictments “election interference”, while labelling it the “darkest chapter in American history” – slavery, the Civil War, Jim Crow, Pearl Harbour and the September 11 attacks apparently notwithstanding.
The preposterous hyperbole, gaslighting and falsehoods are all out of Trump’s usual playbook. During his presidency, he never tired of portraying himself as a victim of malevolent forces, including Democrats who he claimed sought to eliminate him and whose magnum opus culminated in an allegedly stolen election.
Now, with Trump being the presumptive Republican nominee for next year’s presidential election in the eyes of many pundits, the “most innocent man in the history of our country” – as he has described himself – has once again been targeted by his political enemies. In a rational environment, such remarks would be seen as comedic relief at best.
However, given the current divisions in the United States, they are far more serious and sinister than they appear. After all, Trump’s modus operandi has long been to discredit institutions that might hold him accountable, whether it’s the press, elections or the courts.
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Donald Trump pleads not guilty to 34 felony counts over 2016 hush money case in New York court
Donald Trump pleads not guilty to 34 felony counts over 2016 hush money case in New York court
His strategy of victimhood and the fight against an allegedly unjust system has become a recurring strategy. Whether it was riling up his supporters on January 6, warnings about “death and destruction” or threats of purging “deep state” actors from the Department of Justice and intelligence agencies, all are attacks on the democratic framework of the US. Trump, who waged war against the concept of truth during his presidency, now has an entire campaign against the rule of law.
The damage this will cause is obvious, and an immediate impact emerged during his arraignment. Some 35,000 New York Police Department officers were on standby in case of violent protests or worse, as Trump supporters were again convinced he is being treated unfairly.
The NYPD’s risk assessment concluded that charging a former president was so dangerous that the likelihood of civil disorder required the deployment of 35,000 officers. Those are astonishing realities in today’s America.
However, Trump has decided he will double down and call out prosecutors and judges by name. He has attacked the prosecutor, Alvin Bragg, as a “local failed district attorney” and “corrupt, Soros-backed prosecutor”, also posting a picture of him holding a baseball bat next to an image of Bragg.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg speaks during a press conference to discuss his indictment of former president Donald Trump in New York on April 4. Trump was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records stemming from three pre-election hush-money cases. Photo: AFP
He has also targeted the judge, Juan Merchan, calling him a “Trump-hating judge with a Trump-hating wife and family, whose daughter worked for Kamala Harris”. His son, Donald Trump Jnr, went as far as posting a picture on social media of the judge’s daughter.
Even US mob bosses know that prosecutors and judges, especially their families, are generally off limits. However, to Trump, they are seemingly fair game. Unsurprisingly, inappropriate communications and threats against judges, prosecutors and other protected people rose by some 50 per cent during his presidency.
Worse yet, Trump’s deliberate attacks with the goal of undermining relevant institutions should appal every American, but instead they have had the impact he wants. Americans’ faith in institutions and the law has suffered tremendously as a consequence of his continuous attacks over many years.
For instance, approval of the Supreme Court plummeted immediately after Trump tweeted in 2017 that a “so-called judge” had halted his travel ban. Moreover, the public’s lack of faith in the Supreme Court is already high, and rising, with 58 per cent of Americans disapproving of the nation’s highest court as of September 2022. In 2001, when George W. Bush was president, that figure was only 28 per cent.
The public’s confidence in the criminal justice system has also fallen in the past several years, with 43 per cent of Americans indicating in 2022 they had very little confidence in the nation’s legal system. When Trump took office in 2017, it was 32 per cent.
These trends will accelerate further as Trump’s trial, and the attacks that will follow every step of the way, inevitably cause an even greater loss of trust. Regardless of whether the indictments are justified, Trump’s methods will have convinced many Americans that their justice system is corrupt and that he ought to be above the law.
As a result, the US finds itself in a situation where every major legal decision that goes against one own’s tribe will be considered corrupt and unjust. Such circumstances are not sustainable.
These developments are not necessarily irreversible, particularly if American voters were to recoil, and realise that Trump has forfeited any remaining form of legitimacy and that the rule of law is worth protecting. However, the trend and direction of the US, and particularly the fact Trump could indeed be the Republican presidential nominee again, make one wonder if this can be considered a realistic prospect.
Thomas O. Falk is a UK-based independent journalist and political analyst
