If you’ve engaged with the American news cycle at all this weekend, there’s been one story which has topped every outlet’s headlines. On his own social media website, Truth Social, Trump said on Saturday that he “will be arrested on Tuesday of next week.” To be precise, he referred to himself in the third person as “the far & away leading Republican candidate.” Which, for better or worse from the Democrats’ perspective, is simply not true. But Trump’s gotta Trump.
Trump says he’ll be arrested in connection with the Stormy Daniels hush money case, which is expecting further testimony on Monday in New York. But as Reuters points out, “A spokesman for Trump said the former president had not been notified of any arrest. Trump provided no evidence of leaks from the district attorney’s office and did not discuss the possible charges in his post.” Once again, for those in the back: there is absolutely no evidence to ground Trump’s insistence that he will be arrested.
Because Trump has committed a truly astonishing number of crimes, we’ve been here before. “Here” meaning “waiting to see if Trump will be arrested so we can all snicker as we imagine him being loud and bored in jail.” And each time, nothing that happened.
Why would Trump post this, anyway?
Why the hell would Trump want people to think he’s totally going to be arrested on a specific day? Especially considering how unflattering that orange jumpsuit would look against his Weinermobile-color skin tone?
As CNN reports, Trump “has been agitating for his team to get his base riled up and believes that an indictment would help him politically.” Trump loves to play the victim. Becoming the first former president in US history to be indicted for criminal conduct would be a card he could play to rally his base. Instead of, you know, serving as a warning to the American public that this guy did crimes and is unfit for office. For a number of reasons beyond just this indictment. But that’s another matter.
The scary part is the lengths to which Trump is willing to go to make his ascent to power happen. In the same post, Trump issued a hauntingly similar call to the one he issued prior to January 6th. “Protest, take our nation back!” he said on Saturday. That’s one reboot I especially don’t need, thank you very much.
That could all be hot air, too, but Trump’s base is already swinging into action on various far-right forums. The Daily Beast reports that one supporter has suggested making a “Patriot moat” around Mar-a-Lago. As John Oliver might say in this moment: cool.
So Trump has now created a situation where his base is planning protests (which could get violent, if history’s any indicator) around a projected arrest with absolutely no evidence. What a better place the world would be if we could all take five minutes after getting riled up to reflect on what, exactly, is driving the anger.
Which brings me to my recommendation to you, dear reader. This is only Trump looking for attention. Don’t give it to him. Or to his base. Stay calm and have a nice fizzy beverage. The best—and most stinging—thing you can possibly do about this situation is completely and utterly ignore them.
(Featured image: MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
