In the wake of the presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump‘s conviction on 34 felony counts, Biden-Harris Campaign Co-Chair Mitch Landrieu says the country is “at a very delicate moment.”
Landrieu’s topline message is that a Trump conviction is only truly significant in the way it is perceived by the public, acknowledging that — much like with January 6 — there will be a narrative war between Republicans and Democrats to get people to see the trial and Trump’s conviction in the light that benefits them.
On the Democratic side, that’s means having voters adopt a post-conviction narrative that no one is above the law and that America’s famous justice system remains intact and capable, despite what Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) calls the “incessant outrageous attacks on the rule of law.”
On the MAGA Republican side, it means asking people to believe Trump’s crimes weren’t crimes, despite the jury’s decision, and that all the criminal cases against him — including the accusations that he tried to overturn the 2020 election in a failed coup — are political persecution, not legitimate prosecutions.
How the November vote goes may well depend on how the trial results are perceived in the court of public opinion, more than in the court of law.
Biden-Harris Campaign Co-Chair Mitch Landrieu: President Biden always talks about how fragile democracy can be. You have to go to the polls and vote. That’s how in a democracy you stop autocracies from happening. So go to https://t.co/GPLVdi4tnJ, that’s the only way to keep Trump… pic.twitter.com/G2tMoi3Omn
— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) May 31, 2024
Landrieu concedes the fragility of democracy, noting that “Joe Biden has talked to this seven times — he’s given a speech about how fragile democracy can be and yet how strong it can be if people just show up and vote.”
Landrieu contends that for all the due process in Trump’s queue, what really matters is the vote and how many Americans will queue up for it.
“There is a very strong and clear antidote to anything that the Speaker might be saying and the ex-president might be saying — all of which are wrong by the way — you have to go to the polls and vote,” Landrieu says. “That’s how in a democracy you stop autocracies from happening.”