Interview | Trump denigrates the justice system (and destroys trust in the United States)

Donald Trump always verbally attacks his political opponents, foreign leaders, Congress or even people in his own party who do not agree with him. But in recent months, and especially in recent weeks with the echo of his criminal trial in New York, Trump has attacked the justice system: from judges and prosecutors, to witnesses and juries.

After being found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying financial records during the 2016 campaign to hide payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels in exchange for her not disclosing an alleged extramarital affair, Trump lashed out at Judge Juan Merchán, calling him “corrupt.” and conflictive” and called the trial “a disgrace. Many Republicans, in chorus with the former president, also attacked the judiciary after the verdict.

Trump has attacked the United States electoral system since the 2020 elections, generating distrust in the population with his falsehoods about alleged frauds against him that neither he nor his allies were ever able to prove in the courts or in the audits carried out. Now, Trump is employing the same tactic with the judiciary, another pillar of democracies.

“These types of attacks are dangerous,” he told Univision News Jennifer Ahearn, senior advisor to the Judiciary Program at the democracy think tank Brennan Center. “Unfortunately, we see people who are supposed to be responsible making these types of statements,” he said, referring to Trump, congressmen and other high-profile Republicans who have joined the chorus of accusations against the former president.

Credit: Angela Weiss/AP

Trump was attacking Judge Merchán for weeks, to the point that the magistrate imposed a gag order on the former president, which he violated ten times. A fine and the judge’s threat of imposing a prison sentence managed to control Trump’s statements about Merchán, his family, the jury and the trial witnesses.

To counteract the gag, Trump summoned Republican congressmen and senators who, along with his sons (Eric and Donald Jr.), were in charge of telling the press everything that the former president could not.

“I think the answer to that question has to be that no one is above the law, and to the extent that this was a fair trial, and by all accounts it appears that it was, I think that’s an indication that the justice system is working,” Ahearn said.

“Certainly, we see in many democracies in other countries, that They have successful political systems and justice systems that we would admire, where you see former heads of state being prosecuted. “So I don’t think that just because there is one, or even more than one, case in which a president is being held accountable, it necessarily means that the system is broken,” the expert added.

Credit: AP Images | Composition: Mariana Rambaldi

The discussion is related to the long tradition that the United States has of never having prosecuted former presidents. Many argue that Trump’s conviction opens the possibility that presidents will now begin to be prosecuted when they leave office. But for many, that tradition is no more important than the famous ‘nobody is above the law’ (no one is above the law).

“This (that from now on former presidents begin to be prosecuted) is possible and it would be very sad. But I believe that Trump is a unique president, he is a unique defendant and that what is happening does not become the norm,” he commented to Univision News constitutional expert Robert McWhiter.

“We do not have a king in the United States. And that is more important than the other tradition that we do not prosecute our former presidents,” said the expert.

The strategy of Trump and his allies is to present the system, both electoral and judicial, as a corrupt and politicized entity, a ‘deep state’, that is against him. This tactic seeks to mitigate political damage in an election year in which the former president seeks to return to the White House.

In the case of the electoral system, Trump’s criticism has eroded confidence in democratic elections in the United States, especially among Republican voters. A Gallup study carried out in 2022 shows that only 40% of Republicans trust the accuracy of the electoral system, compared to 85% of Democrats.

Another work by the same pollster published this year shows that the percentage of Americans satisfied with democracy is historically low, a trend that has been declining since 1998, but has accelerated since 2021 (the year of the assault on the Capitol): Only 17% of Republicans and 38% of Democrats say they are satisfied with how democracy works.

“I think we are at a very dangerous turning point and I also think the problem is much broader than Donald Trump,” Ahearn told Univision Noticias. “I think Americans in general have a crisis of confidence in the justice system. However, in some circumstances, I think they are justified in being skeptical and therefore people have the ability to analyze what is happening” .

Therefore, in this climate of widespread discontent and distrust in institutions, Trump’s attacks on justice not only foster this dissatisfaction, but also find feedback in millions of (Republican) voters who feel their suspicions validated by Trump’s accusations. of a “corrupt system” that operates against him, although the former president has not provided evidence of the accusations he makes.

Trump’s fight with the courts is not new. The greatest battle, and Also the greatest proof that the justice system has worked was that the courts at the state and federal levels, and at times even the Supreme Court, have been the main resources that prevented Trump from staying in power in 2020, after losing the elections. .

The system, with errors and successes, experts point out, has also been responsible for investigating, prosecuting and imprisoning dozens of those responsible for the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, when a massive wave of Trump supporters broke into the building. legislative to try to prevent the certification of Joe Biden’s victory.

Trump, for example, has said without evidence that the Biden White House is using the judicial system against him, trying to hold the president accountable for the multiple criminal and civil lawsuits he faces. In recent months, he has not committed to accepting the result of the 2024 elections and has also openly said that, if he returns to the presidency, he would pursue his political enemies judicially.

In another affront to the United States justice system, Trump said weeks ago that if he becomes president, one of his first acts would be to “free” the people convicted of the attack on the Capitol, which would set a dangerous precedent for future extremist mobilizations.

If he returns to the Presidency, can Trump be a threat to the division of powers, the cornerstone of democracy?

The expert of Brennan Center He says that to understand it you have to pay attention to Trump’s actions when he was in the White House.

“If you look at the way he used and viewed the Department of Justice the last time he was in office, I think there is certainly evidence to suggest that there is a risk of that happening. if he becomes president again,” he said.