Aviva Fried with AFP // photo credit: MANDEL NGAN / AFP
modified to
07:26, June 14, 2023
He already called him a “wicked monster”. Since his indictment, Donald Trump has further stepped up his attacks on the Department of Justice, at the risk of undermining Americans’ confidence in the rule of law. Accused of having illegally kept White House secrets, the 76-year-old billionaire is the first former American president to be prosecuted by federal justice. The Republican is also the main rival for the 2024 election of his Democratic successor Joe Biden. “It puts the country in a very risky situation”, underlines Edward Foley, professor at the university of Ohio.
“Ministry of Injustice”
For this expert in electoral law, there is an “inevitable” tension between two basic democratic principles: “no one is above the law” and “the government must not use its power against its opponents”. To avoid this pitfall, Justice Minister Merrick Garland, who oversees the federal judiciary, took care to entrust the case to a special prosecutor known for his rigor, Jack Smith, and President Biden refrains from commenting. Despite everything, Donald Trump poses as the victim of a “Ministry of Injustice”, “corrupt” and in the pay of “the radical left”.
“When we arrest our main political opponent, we are no longer in a democracy,” he repeated Tuesday evening during a speech to his supporters. As during his crusade against his defeat in the 2020 presidential election, his grievances hit home with his electoral base: according to a You Gov poll, 76% of Republican voters believe that the lawsuits against Donald Trump are “politically motivated”.
“Classic Trump”
“It’s classic Trump,” said Thomas Holbrook, professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin. “It helps him rally his supporters”, raise funds and divert attention from the heavy accusations leveled against him. Incidentally, this shelling “erodes public confidence in the neutrality of the Department of Justice and the FBI”, regrets Shirley Anne Warshaw, a political scientist who has written numerous books on American presidents. For her, however, the impact remains limited. “The department is only losing support from Trump supporters,” she said.
“Most Americans think Trump shouldn’t have taken those documents and kept them in his Mar-a-Lago playground.” Thomas Holbrook even thinks that the American left, very critical of the courts since their reshuffle by Donald Trump, could be reassured by these lawsuits.
“What will make the difference” in the long term will not be the attitude of Donald Trump, who “will continue to utter his accusations”, but that “of the Republican elites”, estimates for her part Mary Stuckey, professor of communication at the University Penn. Some figures have distanced themselves from the ex-president. Bill Barr, who served as his attorney general, called the indictment “damning”. “If only half of this is true, then (Trump) is toast,” he said on Sunday.
“Fanatics”
These voices remain isolated in the party for the time being. On the contrary, the most faithful allies of Donald Trump multiply the incendiary remarks. The unsuccessful candidate for the post of governor of Arizona, Kari Lake, thus pointed out that the supporters of Donald Trump had their “membership card of the NRA”, the powerful arms lobby. The elected Andy Biggs spoke of “a situation of war”. These remarks raise fears of a new surge of violence, as when hundreds of supporters of the ex-president stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021 to try to block the certification of Joe Biden’s victory.
“Donald Trump has a base of fanatics who would do anything to protect him,” said Shirley Anne Warshaw. reference to the large police force deployed in Miami, around the federal court where the real estate magnate appeared on Tuesday. Thanks to their vigilance, “we may be able to avoid violence in the short term”, she hopes. “But there is no doubt that Trump will continue to push his supporters to action.”