Fîṇli, ʈri rīznz fr Doṇld Trump t b afreid: a cortrūm, a jri n ɖ truʈ
Transcription of an article published in the Guardian on 4 August 2023
Ɖs wīc’s indîtmnt me nt dminiś hiz s’portrz’ dvośn, bt it wl ćalinj hiz frōdyḷnt cnspśn v riaḷti
Frîde, 4 Ōġst 2023
I blem ɖ faɖr. Freḍric Trump rezd hiz ćildṛn, wn in ptiklr, t b’liv ɖt ɖ wrld wz dvîdd intu winrz n luzrz n ɖt ɖr wz no gretr crîm ɖn t fōl intu ɖ latr caṭgri. In 2020, Doṇld Trump wz redi t brñ dǎn ɖ Americn rpublic rɖr ɖn admit bfr ɖ śêd v hiz ded faɖr ɖt h hd lost a preẓdnśl ilex́n. Scolrz spīc v “luzrz’ cnsnt” az an isnśl prireqzit v a deṃcratic sistm: wɖt it, ɖr cn b no pīsfl transfr v pǎr. Fr tū n a haf snć̣riz, ɖt modl hld in ɖ YS. Bt in 2020 it ran intu a man hu wd rɖr dstrô hiz cuntri ɖn wer ɖ scarlit letr L on hiz fōrhed.
Ɖ rzult z ɖ indîtmnt agnst Trump ɖt arîvd ɖs wīc, ɖ ʈrd – wɖ wn mor xpctd – n īẓli ɖ most sirịs. Acrs 45 pejz, Trump z ćarjd wɖ plotñ t oṿtrn a deṃcratic ilex́n – t ʈwort ɖ wil v ɖ votrz hu hd rjctd him at ɖ baḷtbox n ɖr-bî rmen in pǎr.
Ɖ wiri asumśn z ɖt, lîc ɖ tū prīvịs indîtmnts, ɖs wl nt mć damij Trump’s prospects in ɖ 2024 ilex́n n mt īvn būst ɖm: a mejr naśnl poul ɖs wīc faund him cruśñ ol hiz Rpublicn rîvlz fr ɖ parti’z preẓdnśl noṃneśn n ded īvn in ɖ prizymd mać-up agnst Jo Bîdn. Īvn so, ɖs ces, huz cortdet wl b set on 28 Ōġst, cd scersli b mor sgnificnt. It wl b ɖ frst gret trîl v ɖ posțruʈ ej.
Nn v ɖs śd cm az a s’prîz. Trump nvr hid hu h wz or ẃt h intndd. In 2016, h rfyzd t se ẃɖr h wd axpt ɖ ǎtcm v ɖ ilex́n h fòt agnst Hiḷri Clintn: “I’l cīp y in sspns,” h sd, n h wz similrli cô for yirz lêtr.
Nr dd h cnsil hiz b’lif ɖt hiz sīt in ɖ Ovl Ofis pt him abv ɖ lw. Rfŕñ t ɖ secnd articl v ɖ YS consttyśn, h tld an ōdịns v tīnejrz in 2019, “I hv an Articl II, ẃr I hv ɖ rît t d ẃtvr I wont az prezidnt.”
Az fr ɖ impyṇti grantd t him bî hiz s’portrz, hu gv him mor caś evri tîm anɖr feḷnićarj landz, ɖt tù wz fōrtold – bî Trump himslf. Bac in Jańri 2016, h pridictd ɖt h cd stand on Fifʈ Aṿny n “śūt smbdi” n h wd nt lūz eni votrz. So far, mrdr hz nt apird on eni Trump ćarjśīt, bt ɖ presịns v ɖ rmarc stl standz.
Mor sutli, Trump rvild, n rvilz, mć v himslf in ɖ atacs h mcs on uɖrz. H z cuṛntli insistnt ɖt h z ɖ victim v Bîdn’z “weṗnîzd” Dpartmnt v Justis, sjstñ ɖt ɖ indipndnt fedṛl proṣktrz hu drù p ɖs wīc’s indîtmnt wr, in fact, mir parṭzanhacs dwñ ɖ bidñ v ɖ prezidnt. N yt it z nt Bîdn bt Trump himslf hu hz signld ɖt, f rtrnd t ɖ Ẃît Hǎs, h wd end ɖ indipndns v ɖ criminl-justis sistm, az part v a tecovr v sweɖz v ɖ administṛtiv stet, consntretñ c’losl pǎr in hiz ǒn handz. “Ẃt w’re trayñ t d z îdnṭfî ɖ pocits v indipndns n sīz ɖm,” wn sīńr Trump leftennt tld ɖ Ny Yorc Tîmz. It z Trump, nt Bîdn, hu inviẓjz yzñ ɖ justis-dpartmnt az a hitsqod agnst hiz eṇmiz: h hz promist, f riilectd, t ordr a criminl invstgeśn intu ɖ cuṛnt prezidnt. Agn, no s’prîz: rmembr ɖ we Trump léd ɖ 2016 crǎdz in anti-Clintn ćants v “loc hr p”.
Bt jst bcz w c’nt clem t b s’prîzd dz nt mīn w śd’nt b śoct. Sevṛl crūśl prínsiplz r at stec in ɖs ces. Wn z ɖt evri vot mst cǎnt: ɖ victimz v Trump’s cnspiṛsi wr ɖ tnz v miłnz v Americnz hu votd fr Bîdn, huz baḷts wd hv bn cast asd hd ɖ xprezidnt priveld.
Anɖr z ɖt nbdi z abv ɖ lw. Ẃl Trump clemz t b ɖ victim v p’liticl prṣkśn, ɖ truʈ z ɖt it wd hv bn an intnsli p’liticl dsiźn nt t psy him, ispeṣ́li ẃn mor ɖn 1,000 v hiz deṿtīz hv bn ćarjd fr stormñ ɖ Cápitl on 6 Jańri 2021. F ɖe cn b proṣktd fr sīcñ t oṿtrn ɖ 2020 ilex́n, ẃ c’nt h?
Bt phps ɖ sntṛl prínsipl at stec hir z ɖt ɖr z sć a ʈñ az ɖ truʈ. Trump hz ćalinjd ɖt nośn fṛm ɖ vri start. Nt jst bî layñ – h’z nt ɖ frst poḷtiśn t d ɖt – bt bî sīcñ t śec public feʈ in ɖ vri îdīa ɖt truʈ z īvn poṣbl.
Ɖ formr prezidnt spred sṗsific lîz clemñ dsîsiv ilectṛl frōd in ci stets – az ɖ indîtmnt memṛbli pts it, “Ɖz clemz wr fōls, n ɖ dfndnt ń ɖt ɖe wr fōls” – in ordr t cnstruct ɖ big lî v a stoḷn ilex́n. H bilt an oltrṇtiv riaḷti on ɖt lî ɖt psists t ɖs de – a riaḷti md p, inṣdnṭli, v ɖ cnd v “oltrṇtiv facts” t ẃć w wr intṛdyst wɖn aurz v hiz tecñ ofis. Ɖt episod rletd t ɖ sīmñli trivịl matr v ɖ sîz v hiz inōğreśncrǎd. Bt it istabliśt Trump’s posțruʈ pziśn: ɖt ɖr r no comnli axptd facts – nt īvn ɖoz y cn si wɖ yr ǒn îz – onli clem n cǎnṭclem.
Ɖt’s ẃ wn v Trump’s go-tu lînz hz loñ bn “Nbdi riyli nz”. (“Nbdi riyli nz” f clîṃtćenj z riyl wz a 2016 clasic v ɖ form.) In a bliẓd v cmpitñ clemz, ɖ blîndd sitizn cn îɖr rtrit, cnfyzd, or els b gîdd bî ɖ līdr hu cîndli tlz ɖm ẃt z tru n ẃt z nt. Ɖt wz ɖ Pūtin mnūvr – hiz pǎr rests on it – n Trump hz md it hiz ǒn. Nt fr nʈñ z hiz prsnl sośl-mīdia platform cōld Truʈ.
Nǎ, ɖo, Trump’s brand v posțruʈ z set t fes its most svir ćalinj. Az ɖ Icoṇmist nots ɖs wīc, “a cortrūm z a ples ẃr riaḷti cǎnts … In cort, truʈ mīnz smʈñ”. P untl nǎ, Trump hz s’xidd in pswedñ haf ɖ cuntri ɖt ɖe canot trust ōcẉd, dscumḟtñ facts, includñ ɖoz uncuvrd bî fedṛl invstgetrz, bcz ol sć ppl – FBI ejnts, jujz – r tūlz v ɖ dīp stet. Evri morsl v evidns cn b dsmist az ɖ handiwrc v ɖ “gloḅlists n coḿnists” hu consttyt America’z “c’rupt rūlñclas”.
Ɖ tactic hz bn rmarcbli ifctiv. Ɖ asid v Trumpịn posțruʈ hz c’rodd larj parts v ɖ YS sistm olrdi, brecñ public trust in ilex́nz, ɖ mīdia n mć els. Wl ɖ cortrūm ɖt hírz ɖ Ynîtd Stets v America v. Doṇld J Trump b ebl t śut it ǎt n rmen fri v its slfyric tuć? On ɖ ansr, mć mor ɖn ɖ fet v wn pôzṇs man – śept bî a pôzṇs faɖr – dpndz.
