Committed MAGA activists leave little doubt about their feelings regarding former president Donald Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts last week. As reported by Newsweek, political commentator and YouTuber Joey Mannarino, for example, was emphatic: “As of today, with this fake guilty verdict against Trump, America is no longer the United States. We are a third-world s---hole heading for a Civil War.
” I’ve never heard of Joey Mannarino. I have, however, heard of Mike Johnson, J. D.
Vance, Mitch McConnell, Elise Stefanik, Matt Gaetz, Tim Scott, Steve Scalise, Jim Jordan and many other Republicans who responded to last week’s guilty verdict in a predictable fashion. Jordan called the verdict “a travesty of justice.” McConnell said, “These charges should never have been brought in the first place.
” Vance said the verdict was “an absolute miscarriage of justice.” Most concerning is Mike Johnson, the speaker of the House, who, to some extent, owes his office to Trump. Johnson called the charges “purely political,” and he called last Thursday “a shameful day in American history.
” Johnson urged the Supreme Court to intervene, in place of, apparently, the ordinary appeals process available to every convicted defendant. He added, mysteriously and somewhat ominously, “I know many of them personally.” None of these Republicans seems to have given much consideration to the notion that Trump may actually be guilty of the crimes.
They casually discredit .
