Trump’s shameless moxie is making America hate again

It was a split screen that tore apart Washington, and America.

In a New York courtroom, the former, defeated president of the United States – on trial for fraud – was being gagged by the judge, who has already found Donald Trump civilly liable in his business dealings. Trump was not to attack or threaten, as he did on social media, any of the court’s staff. Trump’s words go to tens of millions, and many caught in his rage have seen their lives imperilled. This judge was not going to let any such threats interrupt the rule of law.

Former President Donald Trump sits in court for a civil fraud case at a Manhattan courthouse on Tuesday.Credit: AP

That news spiralled into the live gavel-to-gavel coverage of the House of Representatives, where Speaker Kevin McCarthy was on trial to keep his job. His attackers were the most fervent supporters of Donald Trump and his “Make America Great Again” agenda in the Republican caucus. McCarthy’s high crime was to forge a deal last Saturday with Democrats to keep the government open and funded – defeating the goals of the Trump rebels. Eight of them imposed their justice and voted with the Democrats to remove the Speaker from his office – the first time this has happened since the first Congress met in 1789.

The man on trial in New York today is under indictment for 91 alleged crimes in four other jurisdictions across the country. Any other normal political mortal would have been forced off the field long ago. But not Trump. He is the dominant, prohibitive favourite to win the nomination of his party to run for president, for the third time, in 2024. He is so dominant that his acolytes – fewer than a dozen – have the power to impose their will of Trump MAGA politics on more than 200 of their fellow representatives and take their leader down.

After two Republican presidential debates, it is clear that none of Trump’s competitors can stand up, and say directly to his face (Trump, ever cunning, will never appear on the same stage with his opponents): “You are unfit to be president or lead the country again. Your extremism cost us the House in 2018, the White House in 2020, and the Senate in 2022. You are a three-time loser – and it is killing us and the Republican Party. You act in ways that are a disgrace to the office and to the constitution. How can we support someone who threatens to execute the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff? Who is facing four criminal trials? And while you are presumed innocent, there is no way you can govern the country and deal with your legal issues. Get the hell out of the race. The country deserves better!”

No candidate says that – and lives to stay in the race – because an attack on Trump is an attack on Trump’s voters. Chris Christie is out there tearing Trump down and is at 4 per cent in the polls. Ron DeSantis hedges in going full metal jacket – and is at 12 per cent.

Trump does not have a political campaign. He has a movement. His dramatic, shameless, endless moxie, coupled with his media flair that takes all the oxygen out of the arena, has led his armies to fully embrace his cry: that President Joe Biden and his justice department are prosecuting and persecuting Trump to take him down and out of the race – the greatest case of political interference in a political campaign in American history. They believe, and they will not be moved.

The House of Representatives, in the days ahead, will be a further spectacle to behold. Hours after his political execution, McCarthy said he would not run again. He has had enough. The next test will be whether the rebels will insist that the only speaker who can be elected must give a blood oath on their demands on legislation and how the House will be run.

The dilemma for the Democrats was between keeping the devil they know – and could run rings around – or the more radical devil who would emerge after the roadkill. The Democrats felt McCarthy broke his word to them by repudiating last June’s budget deal to keep the United States from defaulting on its debt. Then, over the weekend, McCarthy insisted on taking aid to Ukraine out of the bill to keep the government open – even though more than half of the house Republicans support aid for Ukraine.

Two weeks ago, McCarthy announced the impeachment inquiry into President Biden. At the first hearing, key Republican witnesses said there was no evidence that Biden committed a crime. Why reward McCarthy with continued power as Speaker?

The interruption of funds for Ukraine hurts on the battlefield and with the allies. It is good news for Vladimir Putin. In his speech on democracy last week, Biden said that the world is asking him, “Right now: What will we do to maintain our democracy? Will we … never quit? Will we not hide from history, but make history? Will we put partisanship aside and put country first?”

Australians are increasingly asking too. Right now, partisanship is winning. America, the nation, is losing.

Bruce Wolpe is a senior fellow at the United States Studies Centre. He has served on the Democratic staff in the US Congress and as chief of staff to former prime minister Julia Gillard.