Presidential historian Jon Meacham chose his words very purposefully on “Morning Joe” the morning after Donald Trump’s fourth indictment, saying what Trump attempted – and is being indicted for – was plainly a coup d’etat.
“You have this whole cast of characters who’ve been indicted now in Fulton County who were attempting – and I use this word very, very advisably, I’m not just popping off here – this was a coup d’etat. This was an attempt to seize power that was not legitimately granted by the electoral processes of the Constitution of the United States. Full stop. That’s what it was.”
On Monday night, Trump and 18 others were indicted in Georgia for a number of charges ranging from racketeering to forgery to soliciting public law officers to violate their oaths. The defendants “knowingly and willfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump,” prosecutors wrote in the 41-count criminal indictment.
Meacham, who served as the official biographer for George H.W. Bush and won a Pulitzer Prize for his biography of Andrew Jackson, said the country faces one of its biggest tests.
“The test for all of us is are we up to obeying the rule of law, even when it goes a way we may not like? It’s a fundamental question,” he said, before pondering the surprising number of Trump followers who are refusing to accept the law.
“A surprisingly large chunk of the country – at least, surprising to me – will follow the now four-times indicted former president to the edge of a cliff and possibly over that cliff. The question is, do enough of those folks believe in the rule of law? Do they believe in the evidence of their own eyes, and let’s just say their own ears because he’s recorded?”
To put it frankly, Meacham said America’s maturity will be tested.
“One of the things we’re gonna learn in the next few months in 2023 is whether the American public is up to the task of being a mature democracy.”
Watch Mecham’s appearance on “Morning Joe” below.
