Donald Trump’s arrest is going to shock the nation – then what?
It’s stunning how few people, even among those who follow political news on a regular basis, are aware that Donald Trump is in the process of being criminally indicted on state charges in New York and Georgia. Sure, these prosecutions and grand juries have been occasionally documented in newspapers like the New York Times and Washington Post, but it only ends up being a story for half a day before the media buries it again. On most days the media only talks about how Trump (supposedly) isn’t under federal investigation, so it can insist he’s “getting away with it all.”
When Trump is indicted and arrested (at this point the Manhattan District Attorney and Fulton County District Attorney seem to be competing to see who can arrest Trump first), it’ll come as a total shock to 99% of the population, because the media has spent all year pushing conspiracy theories about how he’s magically gotten away with it all.
This is, of course, the media’s strategy. There isn’t enough trickling out daily for them to get ratings by admitting that Trump is in the process of being indicted in New York and Georgia, so they mostly just pretend it’s not happening. Then when he does get arrested, they’ll paint it as a shock that no one could have seen coming.
And most of the public will be like, “holy cow, where did this come from?” Because most (not all but certainly most) of the media has spent all year actively disinforming the public by pretending Trump isn’t even under criminal investigation anywhere.
So what will the impact be of Trump’s “shocking” arrest that the public didn’t see coming? That’s tough to say. Certainly, the majority of the country will be pleased. Trump’s base will likely react by pretending it’s not really happening, and that the arrest was staged with a Trump impersonator (yes they’re that far gone).
The bigger question may be what the media decides to do once Trump is arrested. Will it finally admit that Trump is on a path to prison? This has been the real story all year, but will they finally just admit it? Or will they shift to a new narrative about how Trump will magically be acquitted on state charges?
Or maybe they’ll just cover Trump’s arrest for a day or two, and then just go back to ignoring the state-level criminal cases against him, while insisting he’ll get away with it all due to the supposed lack of a federal case against him. After all, that’s the narrative they’ve been trying to milk for ratings all year, even as the facts have pointed in the opposite direction – so why change now?
