A first step towards court proceedings for some, “political persecution” for others: The spectacular FBI search of Donald Trump’s home sheds new light on America’s deep rifts on Tuesday, at a time when the former president is ostensibly flirting with a new candidacy.
Never before had a former White House tenant been so concerned about the judiciary.
Does the federal police search have anything to do with the many boxes Donald Trump took when he left the White House in January 2021? Is it related to the investigation into his responsibility for the attack on the Capitol? Is it more related to the financial fraud suspicion the Trump Organization is facing in New York?
Contacted by AFP, the FBI declined to comment.
Donald Trump, who has maintained his innocence in each of these cases and claims to have been the subject of a witch hunt, issued a press release denouncing the federal police search, in which he did not participate.
“Our nation is living through dark days,” he lashed out, affirming that “this unannounced search of my home was neither necessary nor appropriate.”
“Nobody is above the law (…) not even a former president,” retorted Tuesday on NBC the Democratic Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi – who, like most other tenors in her camp, has been calling for years to hold the ex-real estate mogul accountable .
This judicial escalation also appears to have cemented Donald Trump’s grip on the Republican Party, which has rallied around the former businessman — to the point of martyrizing him.
“civil war”
Immediately after the search was announced, a group of Donald Trump supporters went to the former businessman’s luxurious residence to vent their anger.
Several of them waved “Biden is not my president” flags, another reminder that more than a year and a half after Donald Trump’s defeat in the election, tens of millions of Americans firmly believe the 2020 presidential election was “stolen.” by him.
On Tuesday, some Trumpists on social media simply called for “divorce” in a country where divisions are so wide that they may seem irreconcilable.
“These are the things that happen in civil war countries,” said Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia elected official known for her excesses, even calling for the FBI to be disbanded. “Political persecution MUST STOP!!!”
Springboard for 2024?
House Conservative leader Kevin McCarthy has denounced an “intolerable instrumentalization of the Justice Department for political gain” and promised an investigation into its functioning when Republicans return to power.
His camp could regain control of Congress in November’s general election, which could prove dangerous for Joe Biden’s camp.
The banners on the favorite conservative broadcaster Fox News were also very critical of the raid: “The increasingly radical tactics of the Department of Justice are a danger to the republic”, “Biden’s FBI ransacks the house of one of his potential opponents for the 2024 election,” it was said written.
Donald Trump, who already has a war chest of more than $100 million (an unprecedented sum for a former president) and could declare himself a candidate for a new term at any time, seized the opportunity to launch an appeal for generosity from his supporters .
“It wasn’t just my home that was attacked — it was the home of every patriotic American I fought for,” he pleaded in an email to his activists, proposing a solution. Donation of $5 to $5000 to fight a “witch hunt”. “.