Irish Examiner view: Stakes high as Trump assumes martyr's role

Republicans will attempt to present the process as politically motivated and a 'weaponising' of the US legal system

Donald Trump describes the investigation as 'the greatest witch hunt in history'. Picture: Sue Ogrocki/AP

It’s a perverse world when the prospect of being arrested and undertaking a “perp walk” into a Manhattan courtroom can be seen as electorally enhancing for a potential candidate to become the next US president of the United States.

The charges, sealed for now, relate to payments said to be made during the 2016 presidential campaign to silence claims of extramarital sexual encounters with porn actor Stormy Daniels, real name Stephanie Gregory Clifford, and former Playboy model Karen McDougal. They are criminal matters which could carry a custodial sentence.

It means that Donald Trump will be fighting for his freedom, his political future, defending his involvement in attempts to undo the 2020 election, and resisting legal challenges to the hoarding of hundreds of thousands of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida. 

He describes the seven-year-old investigation by the Manhattan district attorney as “the greatest witch hunt in history” and some jurists believe it is the weakest of the cases against Mr Trump.

His attempt to present himself as a martyr may backfire on the Democrats if the Republicans are successful in presenting the process as politically motivated and a “weaponising” of the legal system. The Grand Old Party is splintered but may find this a cause to rally round, while Democrats nervously remember the apocryphal quote from Omar Little in the popular TV series The Wire: “You come at the king, you best not miss.”

When America won its independence after the Siege of Yorktown in 1781, legend has it that George Washington insisted the British forces play the 17th century ballad ‘The World Turned Upside Down’. It’s a tune that has found a more modern relevance in the popular hip-hop musical Hamilton.

Uncharted territory

Next week, the man who would replace Joe Biden as the 47th president will take his country’s political system into turbulent and uncharted territory when he surrenders himself to charges in what may be the most public manner available to him. 

The words of that centuries-old song warn that “the times lament”. New York’s 36,000 police, who were on standby this week when an arrest seemed imminent, will be on their toes again when Mr Trump responds to the indictment. 

This drama has a long way to run.