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For the past week or so, weve been hostage to another strange Trumpnews cycle, a flashback to the many we lived through in the half dozen years between his escalator ride at Trump Tower to his helicopter exit from the White House. For a while, it looked likeDonald Trump was out of our lives and retreating to his own Palm Elba. Now all of a sudden everything is 2016 again and were glued to CNN news alerts.

After initialreports of possible charges in theStormy Daniels hush money case, the Trump arrest news cycle truly kicked into gear early on the morningof March 18 with post on Truth Social: THE FAR & AWAY LEADING REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE AND FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WILL BE ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK. PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK! Two hours later, a spokesmansaid the former president had not written his post with direct knowledge of the timing of any arrest, while adding, President Trump is rightfully highlighting his innocence and the weaponization of our injustice system.

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But it didnt matter that Trumps spokesman seemed to walk back Trumps truth, as posts on his Truth Social platform are ironically called, or that TUESDAY (March 21) came and went with no indictment from the Manhattan DAs office. (The grand jury isreportedly meeting again Monday.) None of those things mattered, as Trump, yet again, hijacked the news cyclethis time by announcing his impending arrest. AsThe New YorkersSusan Glasserwrote of this chaotic moment: The political classs collective capacity for analyzing and digesting events that have not yet occurred, which still might not occur, and whose details are presumably crucial to understanding how they will play out, was on full display.

Here we get to the central dilemma of covering Trump. By virtue of the fact he was president, and is currently leading the 2024 Republican pack, much of what Trump says and does is arguably newsworthy. But Trump is at besta bad actor and at worst a complete sociopath, known toflood the zone with shit in the immortal words ofSteve Bannon. So the idea that we, in the media, should take his word for it when he makes some wild claim seems at best misguided.

Though it would be impossible to ignore a pending indictment of a former president, could the breathless, nonstop indictment watch have been avoided? Theoretically, yes? But there is a muscle memory many of us have from covering Trump, a kind of Stockholm syndrome from the constant nonstop flood of news. And its easy to fall back into old patterns.

Trump, as president, was an assignment editor from hell, driving a news cycle over everything from preposterous ideas, likebuying Greenland, to terrifying ones, likebombing North Korea. By virtue of the fact that Trump was president, his tweets, his utterances, and his weird foibles led to countless headlines and cable news chyrons. Just as Trump was able to reclaim his role as assignment editor, another familiar story emerged: Republicans holding themselves hostage to Trump.

The GOP was presented with yet another opportunity to decouple itself from the albatross that had significantly cost their party in three straight elections. But instead of using a possible indictment as a way to rid themselves of the former guy, Republicans have been literally falling all over each other to defend him, despite not being sure what, if any, charges will be filed. House SpeakerKevin McCarthywarnedof politically motivated prosecutions, while Republican defenders hit airwaves.

On CNNs State of the Union, Kentucky congressman and frequent Trump defenderJames Comerwasnt surewhat he was defending Trump from on Sunday morning, but he seemed sure Trump was innocent. Are you arguing that people who commit business crimes are not committing crimes? asked CNNsJake Tapper. Is this a business crime? Were talking about a federal election crime, Comer responded. My understanding, Tapper said, is that hes being investigated for falsifying business records.

The Republican rush to defend Trump was so deeply embarrassing youd think it might have led to a moment of GOP introspection. But alas, the crew that is always soworried about the weaponization of the federal government used its power in Congress to target Manhattan DAAlvin Bragg even as his office has yet to charge Trump with anything. Comer and another Fox News frequent flier,Jim Jordan, wrote to Bragg: You are reportedly about to engage in anunprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority. With Trump fully in the media spotlight, and Republicans rallying behind him, even critics acknowledged how the former president could benefit. This indictment is a billion dollar gift-in-kind from Democrats to Trumps 24 campaign, former representativePeter Meijertweeted.

Trump reportedly raised$1.5 million over his indictment in just three days and has enjoyeda polling bump (whileRon DeSantiss recentperformance on the national stagehas worried GOP donors). Never one to let a possible scandal go unexploited, Trump used the potential indictment as a centerpiece of his Waco, Texas, rally on Saturday,telling the crowd: You will be vindicated and proud. The thugs and criminals who are corrupting our justice system will be defeated, discredited, and totally disgraced. At one point, Trumpput his hand on his heart during the playing of a rendition of the national anthem as sung by theJ6 Choir, a group of imprisoned rioters, while behind him a large screen played footage from the insurrection at the Capitol. The weekend rally also happened to coincide with the30th anniversary of the government standoff in Waco with doomsday sect the Branch Davidians.

Trumps stance of being anti-anyone-who-doesnt-support-him was pretty clear to anyone watching. As I write this, Trump still hasnt been indicted but he has used the threat of any possible consequences for his actions to once again become the main character of the news cycle. Heseven slated to return Monday night to Fox News, a recent target of his ire due to its glowing DeSantis coverage. It seems very likely that Trump can parlay this main-character status into another GOP presidential nomination. Like global warming, Trump is on the horizon again and it feels like we are powerless to stop it.

Originally posted here:
Donald Trump Has Hijacked the News Cycle With Indictment Watch - Vanity Fair