Meanwhile back in the real world…
If you were to make your guess based on everything you’ve been hearing on TV and Twitter, what would you say the odds are that Donald Trump’s January 6th federal criminal case makes it to trial before election day? 25%? 15%? Numbers like that might get you accused of being an “optimist.” After all, we’re only being realistic when we take the worst possible scenario, decide it’s definitely going to happen, and then begin preemptively lamenting over it, right?
That’s why it’s so important that we go beyond what the media and the pundits are telling us is likely to happen, and instead look at reality directly. For instance, this past week the U.S. Court of Appeals handed down a ruling in Donald Trump’s appeal of his gag order. In that ruling the appeals court casually mentioned the fact that Trump’s trial will take place “long” before the 2024 election, as it spelled out why Trump’s argument about election interference was invalid.
That’s right, the U.S. Court of Appeals just stated with certainty that Trump’s criminal trial in Judge Tanya Chutkan’s courtroom will take place long before the 2024 election. This didn’t even come in the form of a ruling or a directive. Instead the court simply pointed out the fact that the trial will obviously take place well before November 2024.
So what is all that nonsense on TV and Twitter about Donald Trump somehow being able to “delay delay delay” this trial and “run out the clock” until after the election? A lot of the people telling us this kind of thing are certain that it’s going to play out that way. They keep “sounding the alarm” about it, after all, and you’re not really supposed to argue with someone who’s “sounding the alarm.”
Yet back in the real world, the U.S. Court of Appeals just told us when the trial is happening. You can’t really get much more authoritative than that. You know where Trump’s filings go when he tries to delay the start of his trial? They’re the ones who would be delaying it. The U.S. Court of Appeals. And they just said his trial is going to start on time.
So who are we going to believe when it comes to the timeframe for Donald Trump’s January 6th federal criminal trial? A bunch of people on TV and Twitter who just happen to benefit in the ratings and retweet department whenever they issue outrage-inducing doomsday prognostications? Or the legal body that will decide when the trial is going to take place?
The media and social media are not the real world. The courts are. And the courts just told us in exact words that Donald Trump’s criminal trial is going to take place well before the 2024 election. It’s not even a question. The question is why so many folks on TV and Twitter are going to continue making claims to the contrary, even now that the courts have spelled it out as clear as can be.
