Trump's Mugshot Triggers Right-wingers
Political right reacts to photo with defiance, anger -- and outright fabrication
The mugshot of Donald Trump, released after he was booked at jail in Fulton County Ga, has become not only instantly iconic and historical, but also something of a political Rorschach test for the nation.
To many, the jailhouse photo of an angry and glowering Trump is proof that no American is above the law.
For Trump, it's become just one more fundraising and grifting tool to pay his bills.
But to the former president's right-wing supporters, the mugshot’s become a trigger of sorts.
Trump's supporters are angry over the mugshot and particularly his most recent arrest in Georgia, with his ally and former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin threatening a new civil war over accountability for the former president who to also is the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Despite Trump facing nearly 100 separate felony charges across four indictments in state and federal courts, those on the political right continue to insist he is being politically persecuted by his opponents.
“What people are looking at is this system run by the Democrats, the justice system run by the Democrats, is being wielded for pure politics. Just so they can get their proverbial scratch itched. It’s ridiculous and frankly destructive of our country,” said Rep Byron Donalds (R-Fla). “Meanwhile, all the things that are going on in America that are affecting poor Americans, middle-income Americans, white Americans, black Americans, etc, is being ignored. And the press covers it up.
“This is going to backfire in a major way. Because Americans want our country to function. They don’t want it to be used as a political weapon against political rivals,” he said.
Fox News host Jesse Watters simply made baseless assertions, including about how Black Americans view the treatment of Trump, without citing any actual evidence.
“This is the fourth indictment. Democrats you can tell are nervous because the media understands how powerful imagery is. It is their business. They have handed this guy a huge political gift which will last until eternity. It is a cultural phenomenon now. He is banking off of it,” Watters said. “Black Americans all saying, ‘I am voting for Trump now,’ because they too have sometimes felt like they have been unfairly targeted by the criminal justice system.
“Nationally, 1 or 2 percent of the Black votes swing to Republicans that is the election right there they have done something that no one else has ever been able to do and that is make Trump a sympathetic character,” he added. “They made him a martyr appeared now I want to get arrested because I definitely need some sympathy.”
Right-wing commentator Ben Domenech characterized it with much whataboutism regarding Trump's predecessors in the Oval Office.
“You know, Republicans didn’t go after Bill Clinton, you know, after he left office. We didn’t see the kind of, you know, going after George W. Bush, you know, over the Iraq war, war crimes or whatever you want to suggest. The same with Barack Obama. And now Donald Trump gets this kind of treatment,” he said. “This may be the first mugshot that we have of a former president, but they are setting it up so it won’t be the last.
“And that’s the thing that I think they are underestimating about this whole scenario they have opened up a pandora’s box and they don’t know what’s going to come next,” he added.
Please support our work…
Please subscribe…