'Entirely political'"This [verdict] is what everyone anticipated – because we've known that it's political from the beginning because [NY County District Attorney] Alvin Bragg essentially said that. And we've known from the start and the setup of this entire Manhattan indictment that the purpose was to go after Trump in search of a crime. [This case proceeded] because some of the other cases [against Trump] that may have a little bit more substance to them likely could not reach trial and verdict before the 2024 election …." "I agree with the assessment that this was entirely political, and it's very unfortunate …. It is a dark day in America's history when the justice system is not about justice. It's all about pursuing partisan politics." Jenna Ellis |
New York Judge Juan Merchan, a financial contributor to Democratic Party causes, gave bizarre instructions to a jury in a district that voted 86% for Joe Biden in the last election – and Biden's chief political opponent was found guilty on felony charges of falsifying business records to hide a hush money payment to a former porn actress.
Reacting to that verdict, Auron MacIntyre, a Blaze TV show host and columnist, argued Friday morning that the upcoming election is a fight not only for the GOP's survival but for the survival of the independent institutions at the heart of American governance. The deck was stacked in the Trump case, MacIntyre said on American Family Radio Friday, and it's time for Republicans to get in the game.
"What's happening here is horrific, and it's something that's going to destroy the belief for a lot of people in the idea that the system is functioning properly," MacIntyre told show host Jenna Ellis.
"If you were any kind of competent elite, you would never take this kind of risk with the social currency that is invested in your institutions that are at the core of legitimizing your rule. Yet we see people so unhinged, so desperately interested in punishing Donald Trump and the people who support him that they'll throw this all away just so they can tag 'convicted felon' into their campaign commercials."
The White House has been guarded in its response, but Rep. Bob Good (R-Virginia) says the trial and its verdict clearly show collusion by Biden and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.
"This corrupt sham of a New York City judicial system demonstrates the extreme danger of placing individuals in power who will abuse that power to accomplish a political objective. This is election interference at the highest level and points directly to unlawful and unconstitutional collusion," Good wrote on X.
Good's comments come days after Trump endorsed Good's primary opponent – a response, perhaps, to Good's earlier endorsement of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis against Trump.
Conservatism needs aggressive approach
Americans who prefer the traditions of singular branches of government and an independent judiciary need to understand that those in power right now do not have the same value system, MacIntyre said. If so, he argued, the Republicans' approach of winning through the existing norms in an attempt to preserve traditions codified in the Constitution is flawed.
"Those things are critical. Ultimately, they rely on a shared belief, a shared reality, a shared moral vision about what the country should be. If we're going to watch people who are willing to burn those things down and ultimately say, 'Well, we're going to hold ourselves to this standard, but you don't have to, because you don't believe in it anymore,' they're going to win," MacIntyre said.
"For the last few decades, conservatism has been defined by saying, 'No matter what you do to us, our principles say we won't do it back to you,'" he continued. "That works if you have [opponents] who ultimately can be guilted to say, 'Oh, we're in the wrong. We've done something that is immoral. We're violating the principles and the honor of the Constitution, and therefore we've been shamed back into line.'"
But MacIntyre said today's Democrats openly sneer at the Founding Fathers, adding that Republicans have to speak to them in the language they understand – political penalty. The Republican message should be, "You can't shred these institutions without some sort of consequence," he emphasized.
If the courts are the battleground, MacIntyre said Republican governors should encourage their state attorneys general to find every legitimate avenue of prosecution against Democrats and proceed with "applying the screws without mercy."
Time to move on from Trump?
During her interview with MacIntyre, Ellis suggested the GOP should have a "very serious conversation" before the Republican nominating convention about whether to continue with a nomination of Trump or select a different nominee. Such a move, she argued, would force Democrats back to issues like inflation, the open southern border, and radical gender policies – and effectively render their "Get Trump" strategy useless.
"If we had a different candidate right now, we [conservatives] would have a different view of all of this," the show host remarked. "It would not be that the Democrats are winning at a rigged game [and] I do think that they are trying to manipulate the rules – this is clearly lawfare, this is weaponization of government.
"We could have said of those things rightfully and truthfully, but not allowing it to affect the election in the manner that it absolutely does. Remember, this is only the first case [against Trump]."
MacIntyre, however, disagreed with Ellis' suggestion that Republicans possibly consider a different presidential nominee at the July convention. "No matter how you feel about Trump, if you were to nominate someone else right now, you would literally tear the Republican Party in half," he said.
And while he acknowledged some may consider the rebirth of the Republican Party a "solution," MacIntyre believes the answer ultimately lies within the judiciary.
"As much as we might revere the idea of a neutral institution judiciary, it's become very clear that ultimately the Democrats are very uninterested in maintaining that institution," he stated. "If we're going to sit around and pretend like ultimately just playing by the rules on our side is going to bring them to the table, I think we're going to be really disappointed. We have to get serious."
Alito mess shows need for strong judiciary
The strength of an independent institution is playing out right now in the Supreme Court. Chief Justice John Roberts has not acted upon the request of two Democratic senators to force the recusal of Justice Samuel Alito in upcoming cases involving Jan. 6 defendants.
Senators Dick Durbin and Sheldon Whitehouse sought Alito's removal because of their objections to flags flown at his two residences.
The senators took issue with an inverted American flag flown outside the Alexandria, Virginia, home of Alito and his wife, Martha-Ann Bomgardner Alito and with an "Appeal to Heaven" flag flown in the backyard of the couple's New Jersey beach home in the summer of 2023.
According to the U.S. Flag Code, it is acceptable to fly an inverted flag when one perceives a dangerous threat to life or property. In more recent years, an inverted flag has been used as a symbol of political protest or dissent.
The "Appeal to Heaven" flag dates back to the Revolutionary War. According to the North American Vexillological Association, the flag – which shows a green pine tree on a white background – was intended to symbolize the strength and unity of the New England colonies with a prayer that God would assist them in their struggle against tyrannical British rule.
Supreme Court protocol says individual justices should recuse themselves in matters of potential impropriety if voiced concerns were reasonable. In his response letter, Alito told Durbin and Whitehouse their concerns were unreasonable.
"This is not a joke anymore, and if people are going to continue to hide behind the idea that if we just stick to it enough, then eventually the Left will come around and understand the superiority of the Constitution and the American way of life, they're living in a fantasy land," MacIntyre said.
Time for past rivals to unite
Good told Ellis it's time for Republicans to unite behind Trump regardless of past positions in the brief primary race for the GOP nomination.
"You've got Tim Scott rumored to be a VP candidate, you've got Vivek Ramaswamy rumored to be a Cabinet member. Even Gov. DeSantis is on some lists that are published as a potential vice-presidential candidate. We've got to put whatever was in the nominating process behind us and all come behind President Trump," Good said.
