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Former President Donald Trump drew up a fantasy of a second term that would serve as an instrument of personal retribution, becoming much more authoritarian than his first, when he threatened to pardon US Capitol insurrectionists if he ran for and won the presidency again.
His statement at a rally in Texas on Saturday was coupled with a demand for protests if prosecutors in New York, who are investigating Trump’s business operations, and those in Georgia, who are investigating his attempts to overturn his election defeat in the state, do anything he deems improper or criminal. The remarks highlight Trump’s fixation with the delusional myth that he won the 2020 election, and his attempt to embed that lie at the heart of the Republican worldview. Trump’s pardon threat demonstrates, as has been the case during his four years in office, that he continues to draw no distinction between his personal interests and the national interest or the rule of law.
However, the former President’s fresh rhetorical outburst also hinted at anxiety about his own legal situation, and it comes at a time when several criminal and congressional lines of investigation appear to be tightening around him. The House Select Committee investigating the January 6, 2021 riot has now infiltrated Trump’s West Wing inner circle, and he lost a Supreme Court battle to keep important records secret. The chance of a damaging report from the committee, replete with new facts about Trump’s attempt to undermine American democracy, is mounting, despite Republican efforts to stymie it at every turn.
On Saturday night, Trump was worried about his own legal exposure, in addition to gravely endangering US democracy. He launched a ferocious racist assault on two Black New York prosecutors probing whether his corporate empire purposefully manipulated accounts to gain favorable treatment on loans and income taxes. He also referred to the potential legal ramifications of his attempt to steal President Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia, where a Black district attorney has been granted a special grand jury to investigate.
