It was interesting how stoic was Trump’s face when he arrived at the court for his arraignment. Obviously it communicates the gravity of the event and of being criminally charged. But perhaps his demeanor indicates how sobering this is for him. The first former president charged with a crime involving allegedly covering up by illegal means a series of sex scandals, some of which if true would paint him as a serial adulterer.
It was also interesting that Melania was not seen by his side at the arraignment nor at last night’s post-arraignment speech back at Mara Lago. That could be construed as Melania finding some of the alleged affairs to be credible. That she is ashamed to be present for this, that it would embarrass her.
Trump cheated on his first wife, and left her for the woman he was having an affair with, so it is credible at least he may have had sex with that porn star and other women since marrying Melania. There are too many allegations to not at least suspect a history of adultery.
Does that make Trump less than a political hero than many of us conservative Christians have held him up to be? That’s a hard question. I admired him greatly as a presidential candidate and then president, not only for his policies but for his character as a political leader. He did many heroic things as president, while also standing up to the leftists in D.C. So how to reconcile the two views of this man, that is of a political hero for the Christian Right with that of a man with past sex scandals and a certain degree of apparent corruption, even though it is at a mild level compared to the Elites in D.C.?
Hopefully these criminal charges for Trump are humbling for him privately, to practice chastity, to fully repent of past sexual sins. Imagine having to explain all of this to his youngest teenage son.
But I have to force myself to make the distinction between Trump’s private life, and his virtues as a political leader. When a nation critically needs someone like Trump to at least attempt to save it from ruin, you are forced to tolerate the past scandals and private sins, and give him the benefit of the doubt he has remorse.
But would Trump be morally justified in loosely interpreting and bending election law back in 2015 and 2016, under the advise of his lawyers, to find a way to silence these scandals, true or false, before the election? I think it would be as long as the law does not explicitly forbid the actions the DA is accusing him of, and in the best interest of this country. Which Trump does care about.
Yet there are extraordinary cases morally in which we may ignore the law, when a higher good is at stake. For example, a group of pro-life activists led by a priest, that call themselves something like the Red Rose Rescuers, will trespass on the properties of abortion facilities to do a “rescue” by blocking the entrance and offering counseling to the mothers. To save the life of the unborn child. The human law is not absolute. Divine laws can’t be broken, but in some cases human laws can. So perhaps Trump discerned he had to hide these scandals even if that broke election law out of love for his country, considering this country is being destroyed before our very eyes. God knows.
Yet none of this takes away the clear intent of the DA to ruin Trump’s chance at re-election. That this is part of the political witch-hunt to stop the MAGA movement ever since Trump came down that escalator in 2015. To ruin our chance of taking back the country, or at least salvaging what is left. So this case comes down to how legal and just is the prosecution, and how strong is its case, which all experts say is weak.
Anyway, will have to order one of those t-shirts with a fake Trump mugshot, now being sold by the Trump campaign and wear it around town also wearing my camo Trump 2024 hat. Because being a MAGA Trumper is my way of being patriotic, which is one of our religious duties.
Interesting time to be alive.