(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Republicans choose MAGA lunacy over the law after Trump's conviction [1] ['Daily Kos Staff'] Date: 2024-05-31 Republicans added a new litmus test to the list of loyalty pledges they must make to Donald Trump following his criminal conviction: Do they believe in the U.S. justice system? Before Trump's guilty verdict, Republicans were already required to say they don't believe in U.S. elections (2020 was stolen!) and that they wouldn't accept the 2024 election if Trump loses (no peaceful transfer of power!). Now the GOP has officially thrown "law and order" on the MAGA pyre too. Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, now a Republican Senate nominee, became the first high-profile defector to cross the new line Thursday when he urged Americans to "respect the verdict and the legal process." Hogan's betrayal drew the immediate wrath of Trump's campaign manager, who quote-tweeted Hogan, writing, "You just ended your campaign." From Hogan's perspective, it probably helps him in a state that reliably votes blue in presidential elections to be seen as standing up for the rule of law over Trump, but the GOP edict was unmistakable: Fall in line or be cast overboard. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a self-identified man of God, accepted his orders immediately, declaring Trump's conviction "a shameful day" in U.S. history. "The weaponization of our justice system has been a hallmark of the Biden Administration," Johnson tweeted, "and the decision today is further evidence that Democrats will stop at nothing to silence dissent and crush their political opponents." People celebrate after Donald Trump was found guilty on all counts at Manhattan Criminal Court on May 30, 2024, in New York City. By Friday, Johnson was calling on the Supreme Court to "step in" so Trump can get a do-over. "I think they'll set this straight," he said of the justices, who he said he knows personally. "It's going to take a while … this will be overturned, guys, there's no question about it, it's just going to take some time to do it." Meanwhile Trump's vice presidential wannabes tripped all over themselves to smear the verdict. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida decried "Biden leftists in New York" for making "a mockery of our criminal justice system." But, he added, Trump's “deranged enemies just elected Trump for President again!" Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina one-upped Rubio with a video railing against "the hoax, the shame, this absolute injustice" of holding Trump to account for breaking the law. "D.A. Bragg, hear me clearly, you cannot silence the American people," he said, admonishing the country's "two-tiered injustice system." "UnAmerican!” Scott proclaimed. “Joe Biden, you're fired!” Perhaps predictably, Trump’s MAGA allies in the Senate declared themselves “unwilling to aid and abet the White House in its project to tear the country apart.” Even Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who's no friend of Trump's, managed to cough up a half-hearted rebuke of the conviction. "These charges never should have been brought in the first place. I expect the conviction to be overturned on appeal," he tweeted. McConnell's statement likely buys him some cover, but it also notably did not indict the U.S. justice system as a whole. McConnell localized the problem to the specific case, as did Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, albeit with a lot more zeal. "In this case," Collins said, "the district attorney, who campaigned on a promise to prosecute Donald Trump, brought these charges precisely because of who the defendant was rather than because of any specified criminal conduct." But electorally, the tonal difference between Trump and McConnell is telling. Trump believes he needs the scorched-earth fury of a MAGA base that wants to burn the whole system down in order to reclaim the White House. McConnell once again finds himself trying to slip the gravitational pull of Trump's baggage on the path to retaking the Senate. And every time the Senate GOP's battleground races have centered on Trump, they've wound up in the land of missed opportunity. Whether Trump can ride his white-hot rage back into the White House remains to be seen, as does the fate of the Republican Party, which is almost uniformly casting aside the rule of law for the elixir of power. Every day brings a new prognostication that is making President Joe Biden's campaign operatives worry or freak out. Is Donald Trump running away with the election? No. Not even close. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/5/31/2243999/-Republicans-choose-MAGA-lunacy-over-the-law-after-Trump-s-conviction?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_6&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/