Why Dems Shouldn't be Shy about Trump's Conviction

Too many in the party are allowing Trump and the Right to define a major moment in the campaign

Okay, Donald Trump’s been convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to hide his extramarital affair from voters during the 2016 election.

It seems like a big deal, right?

Well, only if we make it.

After the verdict came in, Trump went right to the cameras to spew a firehose’s worth of lies about the case. In an obviously coordinated effort, most major Republican officeholders put out statements slamming the verdict and reaffirming their support for Trump within minutes of the news breaking. MAGA media personalities went into overdrive, firing up the base with often dangerous rhetoric.

Democrats took a decidedly different approach. The President did not appear before the cameras, and his campaign released a written statement. Many Democrats stayed silent, and those who did speak tended to say something relatively anodyne about how we should respect the rule of law.

According to Friday morning’s Politico Playbook, Democrats seemed divided over how—and how much—to discuss Trump’s conviction. My most recent post about Trump’s conviction was used as evidence of said division.

While I appreciate anyone and everyone sharing the Message Box with their network, I would like to clarify a few points about how I think Democrats should approach the seismic event of Trump’s conviction. I believe Democrats should take a more aggressive stance than they have in the last 24 hours.

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1. Biden Made the Right Decision (For Now)

Playbook kinda, sorta implied that I disagreed with the President’s decision not to address the nation after the verdict. I don’t disagree at all. It would have looked odd and opportunistic for Biden to rush out and speak about the case. I also agree with the Biden campaign for reiterating that the final decision will be November 5th. There is a legitimate debate about the potential impact of the verdict. Still, under all scenarios, it’s clear Trump will be the Republican nominee—the only way to ensure he faces justice is to defeat him in the election.

We certainly don’t want anyone thinking the election is over now just because the Republican nominee is a convicted felon.

President Biden must choose the right moments to discuss Trump’s conviction for maximum impact. I predict that we will hear his most comprehensive remarks on the subject during the upcoming debate at the end of June.

I don’t disagree with this advice that my old friend David Axelrod offered in an interview with the New York Times about how Biden should address the conviction:

I may be alone in this, but I think he should address the convictions with some sobriety. It was a sad and stunning day for our country, but we’re a country of laws, not men. That is a bedrock principle of our Constitution and our democracy, and even presidents are subject to it.

He’s a serious person addressing a serious matter. The President doesn’t need too much mustard on the hot dog.

Now for the rest of the party…

2. Dems Other Than Biden Should Be Way More Aggressive

One of President Obama’s cardinal rules of politics is that if you don’t talk about the giant elephant in the room, the voters will wonder what you are trying to hide. Trump’s conviction while running for President is a giant fucking elephant.

Just ask yourself, how would Republicans handle it if Joe Biden were convicted of a misdemeanor related to the handling of classified information? Would they turn the other cheek and tell people to respect the verdict before pivoting to inflation or another issue?

Seems unlikely.

The Republicans would use every weapon in their media arsenal to brand the President as a criminal in the eyes of voters. Heck, Trump, the GOP, and the MAGA media have called him ‘Crooked Joe’ absent a conviction, an indictment, or one iota of evidence.

There is simply no need to recite rote talking points about the sanctity of the judicial system. Our opponent in the election was convicted of serious crimes; we should make him answer for it at every opportunity. The Republicans running up and down the ballot are slavishly devoted to defending that criminal. They should explain why they think a former President is above the law.

The media will move on in a matter of days. Other news will intrude. One of the core lessons of communications—especially in a world where the traditional press has a fraction of its previous reach—is that if you want people to know something, you have to tell them and then tell them again and again. Once you are so sick of saying something that you might puke, you probably need to say it a couple more times.

Trump’s bizarre, rambling press conference, where he whined about his plight at the expense of a message that actually persuades voters, is yet another argument for why Democrats should talk about his conviction as often as possible.

Trump is already maximizing the conviction for his own political benefit. His campaign announced that they raised a whopping $34 million since the verdict.

We should take a similar advantage.

3. Big Moments Matter

The divide in the election is obvious. Democrats are doing very well with voters who pay close attention to the news. We are struggling with voters who get their news from social media or don’t follow the news at all.

The best time to reach these sorts of voters is at the big moments when political news breaks out of its small, hermetically sealed bubble and into the broader culture. This is one of those rare moments in post-2020 America when non-political people are talking about politics.

According to the reporting, some Democrats think the fact that people are already talking about Trump’s conviction means they don't have to. I believe the opposite. When people are paying attention, you have to do everything in your power to shape that conversation.

4. The Conviction Is Part of the Story We Want to Tell

While the polling results are clear, a particular segment of voters is deeply uncomfortable with electing a convicted felon as President of the United States. That group isn’t huge, but it is large enough to matter in a very close election.

A conviction is not going to overtake inflation or abortion for most voters, but it does fit nicely into the story Democrats want to tell.

The message is that Donald Trump is a danger to democracy, and he is running for president to help himself, avoid legal accountability, and punish his enemies. The fact that he was convicted of falsifying business records as part of a scheme to interfere in an election seems more than a little relevant.

The conviction is not the whole story, but it is a very important piece of evidence. No Democrat should hesitate to make that argument.