Photo: donaldjtrump.com
Trump at rally
Obviously, the worst crime Donald Trump committed on January 6, 2021, was inciting a violent mob attack on American democracy in his attempt to overthrow President Biden’s election and remain in power.
But for everyone who was appalled watching Trump corruptly use the presidency to fill his own pockets for four years by pouring millions of dollars from taxpayers and political donors into his private businesses, it’s no surprise there also was a sleazy financial motive involved.
Last week the bipartisan House Jan. 6 Committee documented that Trump’s fraudulent claims Democrats stole the election through massive vote fraud had another purpose besides sending thousands of violent supporters to attack the Capitol to overthrow the election. Between election day and Jan. 6, Trump’s lies raised $250 million from gullible supporters that did nothing but increase his wealth.
Big Lie, Big Rip-off!
Trump’s campaign sent a barrage of millions of incendiary fundraising emails to small-dollar donors, sometimes as many as 25 a day, urging contributions to something called the Official Election Defense Fund. No such fund has ever existed. A campaign official told investigators it was simply a marketing tactic.
“Not only was there the Big Lie, there was the Big Ripoff,” California congresswoman Zoe Lofgren said in the televised hearing. “Small-dollar donors use scarce disposable income to support candidates and causes of their choosing. Those donors deserve the truth about what those funds will be used for.”
Many people forget Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign was always a marketing tactic. Trump really wasn’t a remarkably successful businessman, he just played one on TV. He lost much of his inherited fortune going through four bankruptcies. Trump’s presidential campaign was a promotional fundraising stunt to recoup his losses.
Trump was as surprised as most Democrats and election pollsters when his openly racist campaign and a boost from FBI Director James Comey reopening a pointless investigation into what computer server Hillary Clinton used before the election won Trump the presidency.
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Monumental Ego
But Trump’s monumental ego convinced him he deserved it and he immediately began scheming how to corruptly use the presidency to make more money. The president, vice president and other administration officials and all their Secret Service protection began paying premium prices to stay at Trump resort hotels whenever possible. The Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., had entire floors rented out to scores of lobbyists and foreign officials seeking presidential favors.
Trump’s financial graft was obvious, but there’s no evidence it ever killed anyone. The violent insurrection did. The Jan. 6 Committee has now presented new details on how close it came to murdering Vice President Mike Pence and his family.
After the raging mob had broken into the Capitol, Trump egged on the rioters with an angry tweet vilifying Pence for failing to block Biden’s election: “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution . . . USA demands truth!”
Orders to Kill
Police said the mob visibly surged forward in response to Trump’s message chanting “Hang Mike Pence!” and “Bring him out!” Members of the militant white supremacist Proud Boys told prosecutors there were specific plans within the group to kill both Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi if they encountered them. A floor plan of the Capitol showed the rioters came within 40 feet of reaching Pence and his family as they were fleeing for their lives with the Secret Service.
Pence, an evangelical Christian, finally did the right thing. After four years of publicly embarrassing subservience to Trump’s vile presidency, Pence stood up to his obscene personal abuse by refusing to violate the Constitution and join Trump’s insurrection to destroy American democracy.
There was a public demonstration over the weekend of just how rare that is among Republicans and evangelical Christians these days. Speaking to the Faith & Freedom Coalition, a gathering of rightwing evangelical Christians in Nashville, Tenn., Trump again attacked Pence for presiding over the certification of Biden’s election. “Mike Pence had a chance to be great,” Trump said. “He had a chance to be historic. Mike did not have the courage to act. Mike was afraid of whatever he was afraid of.”
Trump then began musing aloud about who the next president might be. Smiling, he stepped back as the crowd of 2,000 of Pence’s fellow evangelical Christians began rising to their feet to give Trump a standing ovation. “Would anybody like me to run for president?” Trump asked, as the crowd whistled, cheered and began shouting “USA! USA!”
The total indifference of a large crowd of self-proclaimed Christians about Trump openly encouraging mob violence endangering the life of one of their own should frighten every one of us who learned as children in Vacation Bible School that God was love, not hate. Some pro-life Christians.
But then we all remember when Republicans were a pro-American political party that supported democracy too.
