On Monday, when former President Donald Trump and other defendants in his New York civil business fraud case had their appeal bond amount reduced from $464 million to $175 million, U.S. Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) amplified the frequent MAGA assertion that the Biden administration is responsible for Trump’s legal woes.
Vance wrote on X: “The Biden administration wants Trump to die in jail and they want to bankrupt his family. It is the biggest assault on democracy we’ve ever seen. If you’re too cowardly to call it out, you’re not ready for this moment in American politics.”
The Biden administration wants Trump to die in jail and they want to bankrupt his family. It is the biggest assault on democracy we’ve ever seen. If you’re too cowardly to call it out, you’re not ready for this moment in American politics.
— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) March 25, 2024
Vance doesn’t believe it’s only Biden and Democrats who are out to get Trump. Despite the former President’s easy cruise to the GOP nomination — and broad acquiescence, if not full-throated support from nearly every Republican in power — Vance says his own party is also threatening Trump.
In a February essay in the American Conservative, Vance outlined what he called “The Republican Plot Against Donald Trump,” which accused Republicans pushing a border security package of engaging a “fairytale that makes conservative senators and Donald Trump look bad, perhaps by design.”
The essay contributes fuel to the part of Trump’s candidacy that thrives on his self-portrayal as a victim, endlessly abused by Democrats and RINOs alike.
Vance suggested that Republicans’ who didn’t agree with Trump’s demand to smother the border bill were setting Trump up for political persecution in a second presidential term, writing that “Ukraine-obsessive Republicans have already given the Democrats a predicate to impeach him.“
Left-leaning political pundits including Conde Nast Legal Affairs Editor Luke Zaleski, who recognizes the legitimacy of the four separate grand juries that indicted Trump, replied to Vance’s latest “die in jail” assertion saying: “Trump isn’t the victim of anyone but himself and it’s embarrassing you treat him like a child and a superhero at the same time, JD.”
Former MSNBC star Keith Olbermann also replied to Vance: “Where have you been since Trump urged his followers to shoot at Hillary Clinton in 2016? Go away, little boy. Your diapers need changing.”