by James A. Bacon
The Washington Post leads its story about Governor Glenn Younkin’s comments on the indictment of former president Donald Trump this way:
RICHMOND — Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) is famous for being just Trumpy enough to woo MAGA Republicans without alienating more moderate voters, but the former president’s indictment this week by a Manhattan grand jury investigating hush-money payments to an adult-film star found Youngkin leaping to Donald Trump’s defense.
It goes on to quote Youngkin not as defending Trump but criticizing the New York district attorney who prosecuted him.
‘It is beyond belief that District Attorney Alvin Bragg has indicted a former President and current presidential candidate for pure political gain. Arresting a presidential candidate on a manufactured basis should not happen in America,’ Youngkin tweeted on his personal account Thursday night after the news broke. ‘The left’s continued attempts to weaponize our judicial system erode people’s faith in the American justice system and it needs to stop.’
Reporters Gregory Schneider and Laura Vozzella proceed to quote tweets, emails and comments from five Youngkin critics, contrast Youngkin’s “forceful response” to the Trump indictment with his restrained response to Irvo Otieno’s death in a state mental health facility “in his own state,” and assert that the governor’s comment belies “his carefully crafted image as a zipped-up vest-wearing suburban moderate.”
If this article had appeared in the op-ed section of The Washington Post, I would not have given it a second thought. But Schneider and Vozzella purport to report the “news.”
Let’s start with the snark: Youngkin is “famous for being just Trumpy enough to woo MAGA Republicans without alienating more moderate voters.” Oh, really? He’s famous for that? Perhaps that’s the opinion that Schneider, Vozzella, their editors, and their fellow Democrats hold of Youngkin, but it is an opinion limited to them and those who think like them. That kind of language belongs in an editorial, not a news article.
Now, let’s let’s consider how the WaPo frames the story as Youngkin “leaping to Trump’s defense.” Youngkin did not leap to Trump’s defense. He said nothing regarding the propriety of the former president’s relationship with a porn star or his payment of hush money. He did not excuse Trump’s actions in any way. He criticized Alvin Bragg for weaponizing the judicial system…which he did.
Trump engaged in an affair with a porn star. The porn star demanded payment of hush money. Either Trump or his agent, Michael Cohen, paid the hush money. The porn star took the money but didn’t stay hushed. In a novel interpretation of the law, the DA says the hush money should have been reported as a campaign contribution. There is no way of knowing whether that interpretation will be upheld in the courts.
In my personal opinion, Trump is a sleazy cad whom I wouldn’t allow to get within 100 feet of my daughters. I have zero respect for his character. I consider it a taint on the American people that they elected a president of such low moral fiber. George Washington weeps. But I don’t suffer Trump Derangement Syndrome, and I don’t think every character flaw is an indictable offense.
I’ll offer a counter-interpretation to the WaPo’s spin on Youngkin’s tweet. Unlike the “news reporters” who wrote the story, I will admit that I’m engaging in speculation: Youngkin was motivated to tweet not by some Machiavellian calculation to make himself “just Trumpy enough to woo MAGA voters” but by genuine outrage at prosecutorial excess.
After four years of the Russia-collusion hoax, the deep-sixing of Hunter Biden’s laptop, the relentless prosecution for trespassing of participants in the January 6 riot at the Capitol, the non-prosecution of rioters at the federal courthouse in Portland, the Justice Department’s monitoring of conservative parents in school board meetings, the highly publicized raid on Mar-a-Largo for Trump’s classified documents, the raid that never happened for Biden’s classified documents, and dozens of judgement calls that somehow always land on the side of absolving Democrats and prosecuting Republicans, many Americans have concluded that some Democratic prosecutors regard the criminal justice system as just another tool to be wielded for partisan political advantage.
It is possible that Youngkin shares the same concerns and that his tweet reflected this jaundiced view. Of course, that’s pure speculation, and I don’t pretend to have insight into what’s going on inside his head. The Washington Post “news” department could preserve what little credibility it retains if it showed the same level of self-awareness.
