Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/Getty/Reuters
An older relative of mine, while perhaps not a committed fan of former President Donald Trump, is not not a fan. And he’s definitely not a fan of the legal efforts—at the state level in New York, at the federal level in Florida, and perhaps in Georgia, too—to prosecute Trump on criminal charges.
“Ooooh, Donald Trump used the wrong fork at dinner! Hit him with life in prison,” my relative will snark. “Oh no, you didn’t see Trump use his turn signal! Give him 30 years!”
This is a pretty standard Republican take on the allegations against their party’s de facto leader: Maybe he did what he’s accused of doing, but probably he didn’t, and the prosecution is nothing but political persecution, so it shouldn’t happen regardless. The possibility of guilt goes unacknowledged or ignored outright.