There is an opinion on Trump’s call for protests
Correspondence with the Post-January 6 Insurrection: Trump and the ‘We Must Save Our Nation as We Sit Back & Watch
Dean Obeidchler is a former attorney who is host of a daily program on the radio. Follow him @[email protected]. His opinions are his own in this commentary. CNN has more opinion on it.
Before the January 6 attack, Trumps call for protesters could be seen as an attempt to feed his ego by urging supporters to attend his rallies. In a post-January 6 America, however, it could be viewed as a potential attempt to replicate the insurrection. This time, Trump is desperate to have his supporters not protect him from being held accountable.
It isn’t the first time Trump has called for protests if he is charged with a crime. The former president began priming his base back in January 2022 when he told supporters to take to the streets if any prosecutor, anywhere, charges him — not just the Manhattan district attorney. In Texas, at a campaign-style rally, Trump said that if radical, vicious, racist prosecutors do anything wrong, he hopes they will be the reason for the biggest protests we have ever had.
Later Saturday, in a follow-up on Truth Social, Trump repeated the message in all caps, writing, “THEY’RE KILLING OUR NATION AS WE SIT BACK & WATCH. WE MUST SAVE AMERICA! PROTEST, PROTEST, PROTEST!!!”
Trump’s latest call for protests instantly conjures up his infamous December 19, 2020, tweet alleging election fraud and announcing, “Big protest in D.C. on January 6th,” adding, “Be there, will be wild!” The January 6 House committee investigated the attack and laid out its findings, which some Trump supporters saw as a call to arms.
This scenario seems to have played out after the FBI’s August 8 search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in the investigation of handling classified documents following a court-approved warrant. Trump released a statement shortly afterward that read in part, “These are dark times for our Nation, as my beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents,” slamming what he called the “political persecution.” He accused the FBI of planting evidence two days later.
The number of threats against the FBI has gone up in recent months, and it is not surprising. A person who made false election claims on the social media platform was shot dead by police after trying to break into an FBI office.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/19/opinions/trump-call-for-protests-obeidallah/index.html
Social Media Dispatch to Donald J. Trump after the January 6 All-CAPS Scree: Why the Democrat Left No One Above the Law
The former president also has repeatedly floated pardoning the January 6 attackers should he be reelected — even claiming they deserve an “apology.” Trump’s message is clear: I will have your back if I can get back in the White House.
This email looks similar to an email you would receive from a prosecutor in a terrorism case. But that is where we are as a nation given what has happened in the past few years.
If the facts and the law warrant criminal charges, Trump should face an indictment, just as any of us would. And if there is an incitement of violence, criminal charges should also be brought in that regard. No one is above the law — not even Donald J. Trump.
With one ALL CAPS screed on his own, low-traffic social media platform — on a Saturday — Trump was able to move the political world, influence the media, cause law enforcement to scramble and show his continued hold on the Republican Party.
New York law enforcement officials got together to plan for possible protests. There are barricades in front of the New York criminal court.
There are indications that a grand jury in New York is close to indicting Trump on charges related to a payment he made to Stormy Daniels. No news outlet could confirm that Trump would be arrested Tuesday, despite Trump’s assertions that there was a leak from the district attorney’s office.
Even if he is arrested, public opinion won’t change for a long time. It hasn’t moved much, if at all, in the wake of the myriad other scandals Trump has been involved in.
This strategy is already used by Trump. Post something that is provocative. Generate attention and headlines. Use the headlines to raise money. Pound the table. If you can get liberals to stop, then you have Trigger liberals. Send the right into a protective rage.
He has previously done the same thing, like when he was a candidate and as president when bad things were likely to happen.
The 48 hours after that search, Trump’s team raised more than $2 million. There have been at least a dozen Fundraisers sent out in the name of Trump since Saturday and more are trying to shape the narrative.
The plan went according to plan over the last few days. With the House GOP at a retreat in Orlando, Fla., the “I-didn’t-see-the-tweet” crowd went into defense mode.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy did some familiar verbal gymnastics. He first tweeted that the New York D.A. Alvin Bragg was displaying “an outrageous abuse of power” and said he was “directing relevant committees to immediately investigate if federal funds are being used to subvert our democracy by interfering in elections with politically motivated prosecutions.”
“…THE FAR & AWAY LEADING REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE & FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WILL BE ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK. Protest, seize our nation back!
Bragg’s investigation of Donald Trump is a politically charged prosecution, and why Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is concerned about the weaponization of our legal system
Flexing their newfound majority political muscles, a trio of House GOP committee chairmen are demanding documents, communications and testimony related to Bragg’s investigation of Trump — and they want him to testify before Congress.
“It just feels like a politically charged prosecution here,” Pence, whose life was threatened on Jan. 6 and has fallen out of favor with his former boss, told ABC.
Chris Sununu, who is considering a run for president but is not a fan of Trump, believes it is building a lot of sympathy for the former president. He said that some of the Republicans who aren’t necessarily pro-Trump felt like he was being attacked.
DeSantis was the only one who ventured into territory that could be seen as critical of Trump, delivering this zinger: “Look, I don’t know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair. I am not able to say that.
“But what I can speak to is that if you have a prosecutor who is ignoring crimes happening every single day in his jurisdiction and he chooses to go back many years ago to try to use something about porn star hush-money payments, that’s an example of pursuing a political agenda.”
“Florida Governor Ron DeSantis doesn’t think that the weaponization of our legal system is a ‘real issue,'” the email read before showing quote after quote from Republican after Republican backing Trump.
The pressure he’s putting on fellow Republicans is akin to one of the 36 Chinese stratagems of psychological warfare: “Beat the grass to startle the snake.” Essentially, it means — do something to provoke a response from your enemy.
Trump likes talking about snakes, and his team certainly sees one in DeSantis, but, he should keep in mind what they say in Texas: “Don’t dig up more snakes than you can kill.”
