Why Johnson's appearance at Manhattan courthouse stands out among Republicans backing up Trump

[Uncle Joe]

(snip)

But Trump is hardly a victim. He is fully availing himself of the protections of the legal system he frequently lambasts. His appeals in other cases, for instance, mean this may be the only one of four trials he faces before the election. That means he’s unlikely to face justice for seeking to overturn one election before standing in the next one. And his charges in this case were not just dreamed up – they emerged from a grand jury that decided there was a case to answer. Trump is exercising his right to mount a defense and is considered innocent until proven guilty.

Johnson, however, claimed the trial was an attempt to destroy Trump’s 2024 campaign and prejudged the verdict in lashing out at a “sham” trial. He attacked the judge and his partial gag order imposed on Trump to protect the safety of witnesses and sought to discredit the testimony of Cohen. “There’s nothing that he presents here that should be given any weight at all by a jury and certainly not this judge,” Johnson said of the star witness. In seeking to discredit the case and a potential guilty verdict, Johnson is implicitly questioning whether courts should have the power to judge politicians – a position that, if adopted, would erode a legal system based on the principle that everyone, even ex-presidents, is equal under the law.

Johnson’s embrace of Trump is a sign that the presumptive GOP nominee’s transgressions – including his two impeachments, his attempt to destroy democracy to stay in office, his three other indictments, his vows to use a second term to weaponize presidential power against political enemies and to start mass deportations of undocumented migrants, as well as his embrace of rhetoric that echoes 1930s dictators – are no impediment to a party that craves a return to full power.

And the speaker’s willingness to put the symbolism of the legislative branch of government at the service of a strongman who again wants to head the executive branch shows there would be even fewer constitutional restraints on Trump than there were in his first term if Republicans triumph in November’s election.


https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/14/politics/mike-johnson-donald-trump-hush-money-trial/index.html

[Grins]

1. Need another reason why Democrats must win both the House and Senate? NM

[C_U_L8R]

2. He doesn't seem to realize that Democrats are propping him up

Next time Marge has a hemorrhoid, we may not be there to save his ass.