Donald Trump, the former president, is known for his strongman persona, often laced with an undercurrent of implied violence. As his first trial and the general election draw near, his rhetoric is becoming increasingly heated, contributing to a tense political atmosphere.
On Friday, Trump shared a video of a pickup truck featuring an image of a bound and gagged President Joe Biden on the back, sparking outrage among Democrats. This follows Trump’s intensified verbal attacks against Judge Juan Merchan, who will preside over his New York hush money case in two weeks. Trump has also targeted the judge’s daughter, who has worked for Democratic campaigns, in an attempt to delegitimize the case against him.
While Trump’s behavior is not new, the context of upcoming trials and the election is significant. No other presumptive Republican nominee or former president has acted in this manner. Despite partial gag orders in several cases, Trump continues to threaten and demean judges and their courts.
Retired Superior Court of California Judge LaDoris Cordell told CNN’s Omar Jimenez, “I’ve presided over thousands of hearings and trials during my nearly 20 years as a trial judge and never did any defendants in my courtroom show such disrespect for the court system as what’s shown by Donald Trump.”
Despite Trump’s conduct, the Republican Party largely ignores or excuses it. His power in the party is so absolute that standing up to him can cost promising politicians their careers. His surge to the GOP nomination shows that vast numbers of grassroots voters are fine with his antics. Indeed, they bolster his anti-establishment appeal.
Trump and his supporters argue that his criticism of the legal system is justified because he is the victim of political persecution from Democrats, including Biden. This narrative ignores the gravity of many charges against Trump, including his attempt to overturn the 2020 election, and the fact that prosecutors operate within the constraints of a legal system that includes many protections for defendants.
Trump’s behavior and its legal, constitutional, and political consequences were underscored by two major interviews on CNN in recent days — one with a GOP lawmaker and one with a federal judge.
Republican Rep. Mike Lawler demonstrated the contortions that more traditional GOP lawmakers must perform to remain politically viable in the age of Trump. His electorate shares some characteristics of the more moderate, suburban areas in swing states that Trump could alienate with his outlandish rhetoric.
US District Judge Reggie Walton, one of DC’s most respected jurists, warned about the dangerous implications of the ex-president’s invective against judges and the courts. Walton said Trump’s attacks posed grave security risks and had profound consequences for the justice system.
Walton, appointed to judicial positions by both President George Bush and President George W. Bush, warned about the irresponsibility of rhetoric that singles out judges and leaves them vulnerable to physical attacks.
Trump’s attacks on the judiciary play into the foundation of his political career — that he’s a rebel outsider tearing down a political system his supporters believe disdains them. His assault on the judiciary, however, also comes with a heavy cost to democracy. He perpetuates the impression that the rule of law is not neutral and applied with the same rigor to every citizen.
Even Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts recognized the danger in Trump’s partisan categorization of judges during his first term when he warned in 2018, “We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges. What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them. That independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.”
Trump’s approach, while energizing his primary campaign, may now be taking a political risk. Biden’s campaign has been increasing efforts to seize on Trump’s wild behavior to portray him as an existential threat to democracy and the rule of law and as unfit to return to the Oval Office.
When senior Republicans, some of whom have endorsed Trump, are asked to respond to such incidents, they often try to pretend they haven’t heard of them, or argue they wouldn’t act in such a way themselves. But they know they can’t rebuke Trump.
If the former president loses the election, his rhetoric might explain why. If he wins, it could be the precursor to the most tempestuous presidency in modern history.