Discussing the latest events from Donald Trump’s ongoing New York criminal trial, Rachel Maddow used it to look ahead to this year’s election, offering viewers some optimism about things, despite warnings that “this is no time to check out.”
Maddow argued that Trump has signaled he is part of the worldwide anti-democracy, pro-authoritarian movement, but that “should put some steel in our spine,” because it’s giving people a clear picture of where things are headed in the United States. Maddow also said, based on events in court, that Trump will “inevitably” end up in jail, and that people need to prepare for a “freakout” when that happens.
What prompted this line of discussion is that on Monday, Judge Juan Merchan one again held Trump in contempt of court, this time for defaming jurors in an April 25 interview on the right-wing cable channel Real America’s Voice. This “raised the specter of fear for the safety of the jurors and of their loved ones,” Merchan said.
Explaining that Trump’s actions are “a direct attack on the rule of law,” Merchan fined him $1,000 (the maximum amount allowed under the state’s law). But the judge also suggested if Trump continues to violate court orders he may order the disgraced ex-president to be jailed. “The last thing I want to do is put you in jail, but at the end of the day, I have a job to do,” Merchan said.
It’s unclear if Merchan will actually make good on this threat. Observers have often pointed out how Trump keeps getting away with behavior anyone else would have been jailed for long ago. But Maddow told viewers she believes it’s very likely that will happen soon.
“There is a reason why the damage to the rule of law in our country, the damage to democracy in our country, which we have already started living with — there’s a reason why it is coinciding with a rise in authoritarianism around the world. And it’s because we as a country are not immune to the same, you know, pro-authoritarian, anti-democratic winds that blow through Europe and all over the rest of the world right now,” Maddow said.
“Our democracy is mortal, just like every other democracy in history has ever been,” Maddow said. But, she added, “Being real about the harm that has been done to us already, being clear-eyed about the fact that we can see some of the same dynamics at work in other countries, tuning into the fact that the right, under Donald Trump, is admiring of and openly emulating the way other countries have destroyed their democracies, recognizing they are willingly part of this project — that to me is energizing. I feel like that at least should put some steel in our spine.”
“Because it should tell us the part that we have to play. Right?” Maddow continued. “It should at least give us real grounded practical expectations of where this is all going to go next and where our efforts are most needed to stand up for who we are. It should give us a clearer sense of what we’re going to need to defend and protect very soon, when the leader of our country’s branch of this movement sometime very soon, almost inevitably, is going to break that court order again and is, now we know today, going to be ordered into a jail cell.”
“He inevitably, very soon, is going to be ordered into jail,” Maddow declared. “Because we are on the precipice of that happening. And all the freakout that’s going to attend it is something that we should expect. We need to be ready. We are on the precipice of that next step and what has already been a very difficult time for us as a country. So heads up, this is no time to check out.”
Watch the clip below: