Opinion
Ex-US President in court
The indictments against Donald Trump are an opportunity for America
Donald Trump makes no secret of his contempt for the rule of law, attacks and insults unwelcome prosecutors.
© Timothy A Clary / AFP
The ex-president is now also indicted in Georgia for attempted election fraud. Nerve-wracking months lie ahead for the USA. The country needs a cleansing thunderstorm.
It wasn’t all that long ago that scoffed donald trump “Every time they file an indictment, we rise in the polls,” said the former president at an election rally in Alabama, shortly after the opening of the third trial against him in the US capital Washington. “We need another indictment to win the US election.”
Again, it’s about tipping the election
Now the fourth charge is here, this time in the US state of Georgia. Donald Trump is to be indicted on 13 counts. Again it is about his attempts to overturn the result of the last presidential election.
There is much to suggest that Trump should also benefit from this procedure in the polls. Before all the legal disputes, the ex-president was ahead, but stumbled. Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, seemed poised to become a serious intra-party competitor. Then came the charges and Trump outperformed his competitors so clearly that even the pollsters were amazed.
Donald Trump’s campaign bluster
The second statement by Trump, that he had already won the election with another charge, falls into the category of campaign bluster. First, the Republicans must clarify among themselves whether they really want to go into the next presidential election with a man who has to appear in court again and again in four places in the country – whether in New York City, Miami, Washington or Atlanta. Republicans’ own party strategists tell Republicans that voters in the center, who lean between Democrats and Republicans, may find the impeachments against Trump chilling.
Capitol Storm on January 6, 2021
Next indictment against Donald Trump – these are his six co-conspirators
But the party, which also likes to call itself the Grand Old Party, doesn’t give a damn. Exactly five months before the first primary in Iowa there is little to suggest that the Republicans are turning their backs on their idol. Officials and officials once again rally behind Trump as he rages. In the Republican world, Joe Biden is personally leading a campaign against his predecessor. Biden versus Trump? Then with all your might for Trump. That’s how much of the Republican base ticks.
Court cases are also an opportunity
In Washington, analysts, members of parliament and journalists roll their eyes at the thought that the last election will be repeated next year. But in fact there is also an opportunity. Yes, Donald Trump polarizes as ever. He makes no secret of his contempt for the rule of law, constantly attacks and insults unwelcome prosecutors. He even makes threats (“If you persecute me, I will persecute you”), invoking his right to free speech. In general, the events that he is now being accused of were all covered by freedom of expression. Is that so?
It is good that the courts will now decide on this. After the trials in Washington and Georgia, it should be clear whether or not Trump was actually the leader of a conspiracy to overturn the election result and tear down American democracy.
Donald Trump is now an ex-president who has faced two impeachment trials (unsuccessfully) and is now facing four parallel indictments. And yet he could be on the ballot in the next presidential election. It is still completely unclear whether any of the procedures will be completed before election day. If Donald Trump makes it back to the White House, he could drop the federal lawsuits against himself or pardon himself after sentencing. It’s about the procedures for electoral fraud in Washington and the secret documents in Florida.
Trump can’t overturn Georgia verdict
The situation is different in Georgia: if he is convicted here, he would not be able to get himself out of prison because the trial is at the state level. If he is found guilty there, he would definitely have to go to prison. And if the case were still ongoing, he wouldn’t be able to drop it as re-elected president because the Georgia judiciary doesn’t have to listen to the president in Washington.
Ex-US President under pressure
Donald Trump has these legal problems on his hands
The American people will have all of this in mind when they go to the polls in November 2024. Almost three years after he was voted out of office, the United States is still not done with Donald Trump. If the country re-elects him, an unprecedented constitutional crisis threatens. Yes, it will be nerve-wracking months on the permanent brink of collective collapse. But the proceedings against the ex-president also offer an opportunity. All the allegations against Trump are now being heard in court. He can contradict and justify his point of view. Then judgments follow. This is exactly what America could need to find itself again.