No, House Republicans can’t use federal legislation to keep states from criminally indicting Donald Trump
Why are House Republicans vowing to create laws that would ban state and local prosecutors from indicting Donald Trump? So that the media will write headlines about it which imply that it’s a real thing that can happen, thus making House Republicans look powerful, when in fact it’s not a real thing and can’t happen.
For starters, House Republicans can’t make anything into law. Even if they do pass such legislation in their chamber, the Senate would never pass it, and President Biden would never sign it anyway. The end.
And even if House Republicans could make this into law, it still wouldn’t do anything. The federal government has no jurisdiction over state and local prosecutions. Such legislation wouldn’t last a week before the courts struck it down.
But again, the entire reason House Republicans float this crap is so that the media will misleadingly frame it as something House Republican actually can do, and the Republicans will be seen as omnipotent – which is their entire brand these days.
The Republican Party knows that it’s lost the vast majority of Americans when it comes to the issues, competence, patriotism, you name it. So the Republicans’ messaging comes down to one thing: “We’re going to win no matter what, so just give up and let us take over.”
The entire Republican platform these days is about pushing the notion that the Republicans are omnipotent and inevitable. Every word the Republicans speak is aimed at getting the (entire) media to reinforce the narrative that the Republicans are omnipotent and inevitable.
By portraying themselves that way, Republicans are hoping to discourage liberals from bothering to fight against them. People are less likely to devote their daily lives to fighting back against this kind of thing if they’re convinced their side is going to lose no matter what.
The Republicans are also hoping to convince moderates to accept the “inevitability” of Republican rule, so they’ll passively fall in line with it.
That’s why it’s crucial that you respond correctly to this kind of nonsense whenever the Republicans get the media to float it for them. Your first move should be to point out that that Republicans can’t even do the thing they’re vowing to do. Take their power away right off the top.
You should absolutely condemn them for even floating such evil ideas – but always within the context of the fact that these evil ideas aren’t real things. Otherwise you’re just helping the Republicans portray themselves as omnipotent and invincible. These House Republicans want to be seen as powerful. So we must make sure they’re seen as the opposite.
