Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) reacted angrily recently when a reporter asked her to comment on a jury finding former President Donald Trump liable for sexual abuse — and The New Republic's Greg Sargent thinks that it's a tell about the weaknesses of Trump's 2024 campaign.
In his latest piece, Sargent described Stefanik's defenses of Trump as "bordering on derangement" and he said it showed that Trump's legal liabilities should be seized upon by Democrats and used as a weapon.
Sargent further notes that, as the year goes on, Trump's trials will likely change from mere charges brought by prosecutors to convictions by juries, which will impact how Americans see the cases.
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"What’s changed now is that Trump’s legal challenges are unfolding in courtrooms -- in public-facing venues -- before juries of the ex-president’s peers," he argues. "It’s becoming impossible to fabricate conspiracy theories around the ordinary Americans whose judgment Trump faces, and the gravity of the proceedings is suddenly getting a lot more real."
Sargent also challenges the lesson that many Democrats took away from 2016, when Trump won despite being shown on tape bragging about being able to sexually assault women by grabbing their genitals.
Being convicted of serious crimes, Sargent explains, cannot be brushed aside as "locker room talk."
"These involves concrete, vividly detailed efforts to seize power illegally and steal national security secrets, as well as a jury’s conclusion that Trump committed sexual assault, which is more compelling than his bragging ever was," he writes.
