On November 16, 2016, the United States of America and the world at large was forever negatively changed. On that day, Donald Trump won the 2016 presidency and, in the following year, on a bitter January day, his presidency was confirmed at the Inauguration in D.C.
Donald Trump, the well known spoiled New York socialite, was not expected to win the coveted position as one of the most powerful figures in the world—however he did.
In his time as president, Donald Trump pissed off the right people and made alliances with the wrong ones. None of this is surprising given his far right political views that favored bigots across the country and financially conservative laws that benefited the one percent. What was surprising was all of the legal loopholes he was able to jump through to do whatever he wanted when he wanted starting with landing the presidency itself.
The negative repercussions of his presidency are evident. Trump reinstated racist comforts with his infamous “Make America Great Again” slogan including his “African countries are shit hole” remarks. He, along with his cabinet, created and reinstated laws that set back environmental efforts by decades, and lets not forget his “grab them by the pussy” statement that really anyone who isn’t a gross human being should be absolutely disgusted by. He enacted tougher immigration laws and pulled out of multilateral agreements with world leaders. He was the first president ever to be impeached twice. During his presidency he tweeted over 26,000 times, often in real time about private government meetings and important conversations. These tweets were also a stream of mistruths that ultimately led to him being banned on the app. These events solidify Trump and his legacy as a perverted liar who needed to be put in his place by the American justice system for quite some time now.
When Trump finally left office in 2020, the headlines with his name plastered on the front seemed to dissipate at a satisfying rate.
When they did appear in recent months it was to highlight a new scandal. Trump and his legacy as a cheat and hypocrite, a statement anti-Trump supporters have been making for years.
Even before losing the 2020 presidential election against former Vice President Joe Biden, Donald Trump and his team have been dodging multiple accusations and legal action has been attempted on numerous occasions.
He was up for impeachment for allegedly rigging the 2016 election and, even days before securing the vote as President in the 2016 election, he was supposed to go to court for allegedly assaulting a teenage girl. He was also accused of inciting the violent January 6 riots that cost 5 lives. All of those accusations failed to stick. However, one case that has been building for years has finally stuck.
Last month, Trump was indicted on 34 counts related to business fraud that were kept secret until his arraignment which took place on Tuesday, April 4, 2023. Trump is the first former President in history to be indicted. He was arraigned this past Tuesday and plead not guilty to all charges.
The charges all relate to him and his former attorney Michael Cohen paying pornstar Stormy Daniels $130,000 in hush money towards the end of the 2016 campaign to keep quiet about his one time affair with her back in 2006. Cohen pleaded guilty to these charges back in 2018.
During his trial, Cohen admitted that Trump had full knowledge of what was happening and that this wasn’t a new situation either.
In the days leading up to his charges Trump called for protests should he be arrested and led a warning of “death and destruction” if he was to be criminally charged.
The city of New York where Trump was arraigned and charged prepared for protests from Trump supporters. Among those supporters was outspoken far right Republican Margory Greene. Her and her group of protesters were embarrassingly taken down. However her presence is a reminder that though there aren’t many (at least publicly), there are still Republicans out there who support this rat. No matter how many ridiculous things he continues to say or has done, there are people who are content in seeing and being around evil.
This is why these charges against Trump are not only historical, they are crucial. Trump needs to be an example of how, no matter where you stand in politics or how rich you are, that partaking in illegal activity will get you charged, arrested, and hopefully convicted. In a world where oftentimes right is wrong and vice versa, America needs to set a precedent for its citizens and political figures across the world about what happens when you break the law.
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