As the furor mounts around the grand jury’s recent indictment of former President Donald Trump for his alleged role in an insurrection-related conspiracy, I would suggest that those focused on whether he will be found guilty are in a sense chasing a red herring. As long as the former President remains the clear frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, the most important question facing our citizens with regard to Mr. Trump – since he currently holds no office, has no federal power — is how what he is either alleged to have done or admits that he did in the past reflects upon his fitness to be President of the United States in the future.
Start with the indisputable fact about the 2020 election results, repeated ad nauseam here and elsewhere: Mr. Trump and his acolytes lost every significant lawsuit (many decided by Republican judges who voted for Mr. Trump) challenging the election results (many reported by Republican election officials who voted for Mr. Trump) in the states that determined the election’s outcome. As the grand jury succinctly summarized in the first paragraph of its indictment: “The Defendant lost the 2020 presidential election.”
I will venture that the fate of Mr. Trump’s 2024 presidential candidacy will rest not upon the diehard opposition of Democrats or other voters unalterably opposed to him, nor upon the rabid allegiance of the voters slavishly dedicated to him, but upon those voters uneasy about President Joe Biden – his age, the economy, whatever – who are seemingly willing to entertain the notion of voting for Mr. Trump. I would suggest that there are only three conclusions regarding Mr. Trump’s fitness for office – two of them actually urged by Mr. Trump’s defenders – that one can draw from the insurrection-related charges Mr. Trump now faces:
Door No. 1: The Criminal Door. Mr. Trump knowingly engaged in a conspiracy to steal the presidency and overturn our democracy.
Door No. 2: The Free Speech Door. All Mr. Trump did was falsely declare that he won the election. Such false assertions, even if they were made knowingly, are protected by the First Amendment.
Door No. 3: The Witless Door. Mr. Trump really believed that he had won the election, and thus, he was neither conspiring to overturn our democracy nor knowingly misleading his supporters.
I would offer this to those uncommitted citizens open to voting for Mr. Trump: Put aside whether he’s found guilty or beats the wrap, a villain or a martyr. Think about Mr. Trump purely as a candidate, and … pick any door. Either he’s a traitor … or a liar … or a delusional fool unable to distinguish reality from fantasy. Whichever door you pick: Is this a person who should be … President of the United States?
McCoy's Noise 