Holding the match: GOP stands by as Trump lights political violence

It took no time at all for Donald Trump to again begin attacking the law clerk of Manhattan state Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron after an appellate court stayed Engoron’s gag order against the former president in the ongoing case over fraud in Trump’s real estate business. The defendant assailed Engoron in personal terms, calling him “politically biased” and “a disgrace.” Trump and his sycophants will hand-wave all this away as politicking or campaign rhetoric, but that’s not really what it is. Few people think political campaigns are about being polite. These are ultimately contests bet...