For the first time in U.S. history, a former president has been indicted on a criminal charge: on Tuesday, Donald Trump was officially charged with 37 counts related to keeping classified documents after his term ended, then obstructing justice by his efforts to keep the documents after ample opportunity to return them.
This first for American democracy should be stunning. Yet it’s no surprise. It’s just another dot on a very straight line drawn by the most observed, analyzed, and polarizing person in, perhaps, all of U.S. history. A human who, to me, is the antithesis of the values and norms that inspire this country — or did until Donald Trump came down the escalator to announce his presidential campaign.
What does stun me is the abject support from most leading Republicans — ironically, even those competing with Donald Trump for the Republican nomination for the 2024 election. They echo Trump’s preposterous claims of witch-hunt, judicial overreach, and persecution by the Biden administration, ignoring the photos and other compelling circumstantial evidence in the indictment. Our elected officials should let the judicial process proceed and refrain from adding political rhetoric to inflame an already historic and volatile situation.
In addition to stunned, I’m disheartened by the values reflected by Republicans’ continued fealty to Donald Trump, despite his immorality and continuous lies, which led to his unprecedented attempt to prevent Joe Biden from assuming the presidency. Certainly a large number of Americans voted for Donald Trump. Many apparently believe his false claims of election fraud, some enough to storm the Capitol on January 6. But for the Republican leaders of our government to support Trump’s propaganda seems a clear violation of the oath of office to uphold the Constitution.
