Luxury perp walk
Trump wants to be handcuffed, I guess kind of like Jesus schlepping the cross.
Donald Trump has told advisers that he wants to be handcuffed when he makes an appearance in court, if he is indicted by a Manhattan grand jury for his role in paying hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels, multiple sources close to the former president have said.
Go ahead! Make a martyr of the poor saintly starved man!
Trump’s increasing insistence that he wants to be handcuffed behind his back for a perp walk appears to come from various motivations, including that he wants to project defiance in the face of what he sees as an unfair prosecution and that it would galvanize his base for his 2024 presidential campaign.
But above all, sources said he was deeply anxious that any special arrangements – like making his first court appearance by video link or skulking into the courthouse – would make him look weak or like a loser.
I kind of think he might be overthinking this a little. Being handcuffed wouldn’t actually make him look strong or like a winner.
People close to Trump were said to be unsure whether he is serious about being handcuffed and doing a perp walk, but he may be thwarted in his supposed ambitions if the district attorney, Alvin Bragg, decides against handcuffing him and refuses to allow him to be marched past the cameras.
Well then his millions of fans will pour into the street demanding that he be marched past the cameras in handcuffs. Maga!!
If true (and sincere rather than a fake-out), seems like a miscalculation on Trump’s part.
Sure, his die-hard fans will eat it up. But while they’re enough to get him the GOP nomination, they’re not enough to win the general election. To do that, he needs to win over enough independents and GOP I’m-not-Never-Trump-but-man-I’m-exhausted-by-this-clown voters. And I think he’s underestimating how much damage the spectacle of him being marched into a courtroom or police station in handcuffs would be.
I think there’s a lot of people out there who have heard for years about what a crook Trump is, but dismiss it as political mudslinging. After all, if Trump was really a criminal, they would have arrested him, right? Having wall-to-wall news coverage of his arrest makes it real in a way that a million op-eds about how he’s a criminal don’t.
Maybe instead of handcuffs they could use the zip-ties that one of the Jan. 6 “patriots” was going to use on members of Congress. And if he’s denied access to his hair stylist before public appearances, he’ll be unrecognizable without his atomic comb-over.
Look, zipties are a perfectly normal thing for tourists to carry on a peaceful stroll through the Capitol.
The local Ace Hardware is well known for its friendly staff and excellent selection at very reasonable prices. Who could pass up a few bags of zip ties at 99¢ a bag?
BKiSA:
Not me. I always have a supply of cable ties on my person, and have frequently found them to be extremely useful. Not that it has ever occurred to me to use them on a person, of course. Or any other living thing, for that matter. Just for holding inanimate things together when they fall apart, until I get home and can effect proper repairs.