'Promises kept?' Trump base bristles over lack of reprisals

by Frankie TAGGART

Inflamed by endless claims of liberal "deep state" operatives targeting their president for prosecution, Donald Trump's supporters dreamed of the day when he would return to office and take his revenge.

But three months into his second term, the promised arrests and show trials of high-profile Democrats have not materialized -- and Trump's "Make America Great Again" (MAGA) movement is losing patience.

Frustrated MAGA figures have been complaining for weeks over the pace of efforts by the FBI and Justice Department to deliver on Trump's threats to target the lawmakers, journalists and prosecutors he considered "enemies from within."

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This is especially true among "J6ers" -- hundreds of MAGA rioters convicted over the 2021 US Capitol insurrection, and then repeatedly promised vengeance by Trump on the presidential campaign trail.

The Republican leader may have hoped for plaudits over his order to criminally investigate two officials from his first term who defied him, and for his strong-arming of law firms that represented his adversaries.

But MAGA has indicated that it will only be fully appeased by significant indictments on the Democratic side.

And what MAGA wants, it often gets -- several members of the White House National Security Council seen as insufficiently loyal learned this recently when they were fired at the behest of far-right influencer Laura Loomer, who has Trump's ear.

- 'You've been let down' -

The targets of the angry backlash are Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel and Patel's second-in-command, former talk show host Dan Bongino.

Bongino and other right-wing influencers have been telling their audiences for years that a criminal cabal of Democrats, guilty of calumnies against the Trump family, were about to get their comeuppance.

Rattled by accusations that he is letting the side down now he is on the other side of the fence, he has taken to X multiple times in recent weeks to protest that he was working hard in his new job.

In an appeal for patience this week, Bongino said cryptically that he was developing "a number of significant initiatives to ensure that the mistakes of the past are never repeated."

"I know you've been let down in the past," he said on X. "You're owed better. And we're going to produce it."

The deputy director didn't address anyone in particular in his posts, but the replies were dominated by MAGA figures angry over the lack of political prosecutions.

"We aren't trying to be the enemy. We want justice!" Richard "Bigo" Barnett, who was photographed with his feet on then-House speaker Nancy Pelosi's desk during the Capitol riot, posted separately.

"We want the promises made kept! We stood! We showed up when Donald asked! We have seen nothing."

- 'Scared in the corner' -

Despite receiving more than 1,500 pardons and commutations from Trump, the J6ers have been among the most disgruntled MAGA figures.

Suzzanne Monk, founder of the "J6 Pardon Project," has been tracking the arrests of insurrectionists during Democratic president Joe Biden's first year and comparing them unfavorably with the threadbare action against Democrats under Trump.

"Today is April 16th," she posted Wednesday. "By 4/16/21, the Biden regime had already arrested 406 January 6th Defendants and would go on to convict 99.7% of their arrests. How many arrests has Pam made?"

To be clear, the only Democrats credibly accused of crimes in the Trump era were investigated -- by Biden's justice department.

But MAGA is demanding heads on spikes.

Tom Fitton, head of the right-wing group Judicial Watch, echoed many MAGA figures in giving Trump a pass on the lack of prosecutions -- arguing that the president has a lot on his plate.

But he told Trump ally Steve Bannon's "War Room" podcast that Bondi and Patel need to be "much more aggressive."

"There may be good people working at the FBI, but they're scared in the corner and unable to do anything," said Fitton.