Words that never have any consequences

It’s logical that, whoever lies more than they blink, should be able to claim their right to lie. This is the case of Donald Trump: a character so deceitful that, from the day he launched himself into politics, he has forced the media to invest substantial resources into verifying his false statements and accounting for all his mistruths.

Added to the long count of lies are the legal processes he’s facing, with three grand juries (soon to be four) and corresponding criminal charges. In total, there are 78 crimes he’s being accused of: 34 in relation to the bribery of a porn artist, 40 for withholding and concealing top secret documents and four more related to his attempt to nullify the 2020 presidential election and remain in the White House, despite having lost to Joe Biden.

On January 2, 2024, the trial for electoral interference will be held in Washington, D.C. On March 25, the show will move to Manhattan, with the focus being the illegal payments he allegedly made to his occasional lover. After that, a third trial will begin on May 20, in Florida, in relation to the violation of the Espionage Act.

The fact that these court dates overlap with the Republican primary campaign will serve as fuel for Trump to fundraise and continue feeding the engine of resentment that has put him at the top of the polls. At the moment, he’s 35 points ahead of his closest challenger for the Republican nomination (Florida Governor Ron DeSantis) and tied with Biden for the 2024 general election.

Only the fanatics believe that he won the last election and that his opponents cheated. They also think that President Biden wants to send Trump to jail, in order to prevent him from winning in 2024. Not even the other Republican candidates believe this, although there are many Americans who want to vote for him precisely because they like his lies and relish his insults and attacks on Biden, the judges and the prosecutors. However, it won’t be easy to explain away or hide from so many lies when he faces the juries that will have to determine if he’s guilty.

To defend him, Trump’s lawyers invoke the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which protects free speech. In his parallel world, the lies he tells are truths in which he firmly believes, while his orders to modify the electoral result to hold onto the presidency were simply aspirations or wishes that he freely expressed. With this excuse, he wants to evade responsibility for the orders he gave and actions he took to distort the election results and proclaim himself the winner. As if the words of someone who was still president — pronounced on the verge of a coup — had no consequences.

Trump claims that he had impunity as president (and still has it, as a former president), while also insisting that his universal right to lie is protected by the sacred freedom of speech. If such acts go unpunished, others will want to repeat his feat, and not only in the United States.

Wherever we live, can’t we recognize the actions of compulsive liars, convinced of their own falsehoods? Can’t we see that they’re proud to defend their declaration of breaking with the constitutional order, as if such an action was merely the free speech of legitimate political aspirations?

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