The US is experiencing an unprecedented situation in the form of the third indictment of former President Donald Trump for actions he committed when he was in office. A fourth indictment is also on the cards. The irony is each time he has been indicted, he has emerged stronger, at least, in the eyes of his Republican Party supporters. This is most crucial so far as Trump’s future is concerned as he is the frontrunner Republican presidential candidate in the upcoming elections a few months away. For, no matter how the wheel of law in the country moves to chastise him for his acts of omissions and commissions, it will prove futile once he gets enough votes to return to the White House. This will give him powers to undo the assiduous work being done by the country’s legal apparatus to punish him.
Some may claim, this is happening in the US because of Trump’s brand of politics. However, any impartial observer will understand that in many aspects, the present situation in India resembles that of the US. Long standing hatred and anger seems to be oozing out from the common people. Therefore, it is not Trump’s politics but the acceptance of that brand of politics by the common voter that seems to be the cause of all the malaise.
The former President’s third indictment in four months early this week is by far the most serious since it brings against him a charge for “conspiring to defraud the United States.” That is how Special Counsel Jack Smith sought to describe Trump’s attempt to cling to power with the argument, not backed by an iota of evidence, that Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election was due to massive voting fraud. The attempt to subvert the US constitution that guarantees peaceful transfer of power through elections culminated in the assault January 6, 2021 by die-hard Trump supporters on the Capitol, where the final election results were to be certified.
The latest indictment, however, will put the survival instinct of Trump under the severest test as it signals the beginning of a legal accountability that is needed so desperately for safeguarding American democracy itself. Trump already faces several criminal charges, including retention of classified national security documents and the payment of hush money to a porn star. But this time the charge framed by the special counsel is of a different order of magnitude altogether. The former President stands accused of willfully conspiring, while in office, to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election. The indictment states Trump “knowingly” used false claims of electoral fraud in an attempt “to subvert the legitimate election results.” A bipartisan congressional committee report last year came to the same conclusions. But, this is the first major legal attempt to hold Trump accountable for events leading to the storming of the Capitol.
The testimony given to Congress suggests Trump used his authority to try to bully federal and state officials into supporting his claims that the election had been “stolen” from him. He was repeatedly told that his assertions were baseless. But this failed to dissuade him from going ahead with his abhorrent methods of overturning the results by mobilising a hostile crowd to intimidate lawmakers charged with ratifying Biden’s victory. The prosecutors’ case will depend on their ability to prove that Trump knew his claims of a stolen election were bogus.
But, the all-important question is whether Trump will be able to turn even this situation to his own political advantage. He is adept in the art of playing the victim card and winning the sympathy of the majority of Republican supporters. Two previous criminal indictments resulted in his poll ratings going up helping him to establish a huge lead in the race for the Republican presidential nomination for 2024. Call it his charisma or pugnacious policies with strong emotive appeal to white supremacists, but this has helped swell his vote bank.
Added to this is the fact that public sentiment invariably goes in favour of a so-called underdog. Trump definitely is not an underdog but his playacting has succeeded in portraying him as a man cornered and alone, standing against fierce enemies out to eliminate not only Trump but all that he stands for.