"An expectation of redemption": Trump is fueling MAGA's revenge fantasy

"An expectation of redemption": Trump is fueling MAGA's revenge fantasy
"This message is being customized for groups of voters by sophisticated digital AI techniques"

By CHAUNCEY DEVEGA
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED JUNE 10, 2024 6:01AM (EDT)


(Salon) Donald Trump, now convicted of a criminal felony, is also the presumed presidential nominee for the Republican Party and leads in several key battleground state polls. A sexual assaulter as confirmed by a civil court and an admirer of Adolf Hitler, Trump is an aspiring dictator who is threatening to imprison his perceived enemies. These are truly unprecedented existential challenges for the United States.

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In an attempt to make better sense of Donald Trump’s historic felony conviction and its meaning and implications for this political moment, the 2024 election, the country’s democracy and what may happen next, I recently spoke to a range of experts.

Steven Beschloss is a journalist and author of several books, including "The Gunman and His Mother." His website is America, America.

In a sane world, the jury's unanimous guilty verdict of Donald Trump on all 34 felony counts would provide an overwhelming signal to one of the country’s two main political parties that he is unfit to hold office and should not be their presidential nominee. But the once-legitimate Republic Party and its top elected officials — including the House speaker and craven, high-ranking U.S. senators — have chosen to emulate Trump's false and hateful message that the trial was rigged, and the judicial system and its participants cannot be trusted. Their response portends a deeper tragedy for our country beyond November: Their degradation of the judicial system is tearing apart the main fabric of a healthy society that depends on the rule of law and the public’s trust.

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David L. Altheide is the Regents' Professor Emeritus on the faculty of Justice and Social Inquiry in the School of Social Transformation at Arizona State University and author of the new book "Gonzo Governance: The Media Logic of Donald Trump."

..... Donald Trump’s pretrial claims about being a victim of an unfair election process and a corrupt criminal justice system set the tone for his dismissal of the jury’s verdict as unfair. This message is being customized for groups of voters by sophisticated digital AI techniques for disinformation and propaganda, such as Republican-led investigation of the “weaponization of the federal government.” Many Republican officeholders echoed this claim. House Republican leader Mitch McConnell posted on X, formerly Twitter: “These charges never should have been brought in the first place. I expect the conviction to be overturned on appeal.” .................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2024/06/10/an-expectation-of-redemption-is-fueling-magas-revenge-fantasy/