We are faced with an interesting moment here. Donald Trump wailed and carried on about how he “wasn’t allowed” to see his youngest son, Barron, graduate from high school. Woe, what an unkind cut that was. How it wounded Trump deeply. Fox News talked about it endlessly for about three days. Then, as you know, last week Justice Juan Merchan informed Trump that court would be dark on May 17 so that he could attend his son’s graduation. So what did Trump do? Why, something totally Trumpian, that’s what. He booked a fundraiser in Minnesota. And that’s where he will be, not anywhere near his own kid on that young man’s big day.
And Barron breathes huge sigh of relief.
— Sheri Bentsen🌊🟦🟧#BLM 🏳️🌈 (@SheriBentsen) May 7, 2024
Barron may be sighing with relief. So might Melania. Again, all we know is the sanitized version of the family that has been spoon fed to us, that Melania, Donald and Barron are tight, when the evidence of our eyes and ears tells us that Melania and Donald, at least, lead totally separate lives.
The obvious truth is that Trump can’t be both places at once and he won’t be. He will be where he wants to be, which is not at the *family* event, but rather at the fundraising event. And again, this may possibly be the way that all parties concerned want it. That’s not the point. The point is Trump mewling and whining how unfair and cruel the judge was to make him be in court when his 18-year-old son was graduating from high school, boo hoo. And then the minute the judge cancels the court hearing BOOM! Trump world finds a fundraiser for him to attend.
It remains to be seen what the court will do about this, if anything. It frankly would serve Trump right if Justice Merchan put things back where they were and made Trump be in court that day. I doubt that he will. Merchan acted in good faith and allowed Trump to perform a parental duty and instead Trump is doing what he wants to do in another state. That’s vintage Trump.
But one thing is certain: if Trump thinks he can use graduations, funerals, weddings, what have you as a Get Out Of Court Free card, then he should have his feet held to the fire on the next go round. Whatever he wants to attend other than court should be refused him and this should be the rationale.
It’s particularly comical that Tom Emmer is hosting this event because he and Trump can’t stand one another. But all those considerations are past. The GOP is going to pretend that its presumptive nominee is not a criminal defendant right now, or if he is, that it’s all lawfare. That’s the smokescreen.
And on that basis they will first gaslight themselves and then attempt to gaslight the American people. Never lose sight of the fact that the travesty that politics is in the year 2024 is due to the abject cowardice of the Republican party. They were bereft of leadership in 2015 and lo and behold, into this vacuum appeared the reality TV show host. They saw him for who and what he was, just as we did, but they decided it was to their advantage to go along with the gag and pretend that he was in fact a leader.
His four years in office were something out of dystopian black comedy and they would be remembered for such but for the millions of Americans who died from the botched COVID response. Trump botched other things as well. The last time a president left office with a loss of jobs like his, Herbert Hoover was in office — and those comparisons were made.
But the GOP is still going along with the gag, still enabling Trump, again, because they have no leadership. Trump is still the best they can do. So they hope and pray that he can create 2016 again and capture lightning in a bottle.
Trump would not be where he is without his enablers. His father’s wealth enabled him to bankrupt casinos, to stiff workers, to wreak all kinds of havoc and now the GOP is the father figure, always bailing the bad boy son out of his problems.
That’s what Mike Johnson said just this morning, that Trump was blameless and it’s incumbent upon the party to bail him out, to stop the prosecutions, including the trial that Trump is currently in. This is what mass delusion looks like, ladies and gentlemen.
Grist for the lock him up for a while mill when the trial concludes. (Or maybe during deliberations?) And if Trump’s convicted it’s something the judge will be able to take into account with sentencing. White collar crimes like this and for the amounts in question don’t usually result in prison sentences. Probation, or maybe even a diversion program where if the person behaves and meets all the conditions their conviction is expunged. Trump however seems to be working furiously to ensure he actually gets sentenced to at least a year in prison.
I keep saying that’s going to matter and huge in subsequent trials.