Ex-president in Arizona warns appeal courts to ‘step up and straighten things out’ and insists he committed no crimes
Ex-president in Arizona warns appeal courts to ‘step up and straighten things out’ and insists he committed no crimes
In his first campaign rally after being convicted of 34 felonies, former president Donald Trump recalled how he just went through a “rigged” trial with a “highly conflicted” judge despite there being “no crime”.
The court cases Trump faces have become a mainstay of his campaigning throughout the last year, where he frequently tells his followers that the charges are a form of election interference and designed to tamp down the Maga movement.
“Those appellate courts have to step up and straighten things out, or we’re not going to have a country any longer,” he said.
Trump spoke at a Turning Point Action event in sweltering Phoenix, at Dream City church, a megachurch where he and Turning Point have held rallies in the past. The extreme heat led to some waiting outside for the venue to open to need medical attention for heatstroke.
Behavior between verdict and judgement usually is.
So on one hand, this is a non-violent case about someone with no (official) criminal record. This usually results in parole and a slap on the wrist.
On the other hand, he shows no remorse for the crimes he's been found guilty of, and it seems he's doing everything he can to piss off the ones who are deciding his future.
EDIT: I hear reports that the one downvote was from president 34 himself.
EDIT2: Aileen Cannon also joined.
I think the best way to go is probation, enforced with some sort of suspended sentence. If he violates the terms of his probation, the suspended sentence kicks in and he goes straight to Rikers for a few months. It reinforces the point that the crimes may not warrant jail time, but his attitude definitely does. And leaves the whole thing up to his own actions.
And the probation terms will probably not be that onerous. Most probation officers simply make sure their charges are still gainfully employed, and are obeying laws. But Trump is a political candidate and NFT salesman, so we all know he has money coming in. Maybe they ask about his travel plans, which his team can easily give. Maybe they ask him about his medications and make him pee in a cup. Maybe they make him do some community service, which he will spin into campaign stops.
The probation process for Trump will be purely performative, but it is an important performance. It will be all about whether he recognizes that the NYC criminal justice system now has some oversight over him. If he does not, and does not cooperate with his probation officer (who, odds are, has heritage from one of those countries he doesn't like), he will end up in Rikers, purely due to his ability to not listen to people he doesn't like.
While I do think that was him undeniably being racist, I think it was more an issue of, "hey, if I say someone who rigs is a rigger, it sounds like-" long after he started using the word "rigged." Because I don't think he's smart enough to come up with that sort of dog whistle the other way around.
Yeah and it's so annoying some people don't want to realize how awful he is when he pulls this crap. Like they take his word as gospel, the dude who lies about the colour of the sky.
I get that they don't want to be wrong but maybe the lesson is, we have to teach people it's okay to accept we're wrong and to change our ways. Digging into a bad hole is as bad as being bombed into one.