American democracy has become a theatrical farce

aditya-joshi--unsplash
aditya-joshi–unsplash

ALEX HOBEN
editor-in-chief
alexandra.hoben@my.tccd.edu

The future of this country’s democracy has been turned into a farce due to the first ever criminal indictment of a former president.

With former President Donald Trump’s indictment on March 30, there is now the question of whether he will be eligible to be the nominee for the Republican candidacy, or if he will be behind bars.

If this were to happen, who would take his place? What is the current landscape of the 2024 election? There doesn’t seem to be an end to the questions about the country’s future. As for the Democrats there have only been two candidates who have declared they are running, including President Joe Biden.

It feels as if the political theater that the American people are being treated to right now is such a farce that it’s no wonder why, according to Pew Research Center, public trust in the government is at a historic low.

A former president was indicted in a case of providing hush money to an adult film actress. That’s a true sentence. That’s the foolishness that is playing out in front of our very eyes across every social media platform and every news outlet.

The man that reigned terror over America for four years but somehow felt like a decade, is now getting indicted on probably his smallest offense. It’s almost insulting to those who have had to keep up with his journey from his initial campaign to now.

It’s like if there is a five-car pileup, and the one who caused it gets brought in because they forgot to use their turn signal. Yes, it’s a problem, but can we focus on the heaps of wreckage that was left behind as well?

This is such an insane time to be living in. What’s even worse is that even this indictment doesn’t look like it’s going to stop the Republican base from possibly nominating him. Trump was able to twist a grand jury indicting him on more than 30 charges of business fraud into what he called a “witch hunt.”

The worst part is that it worked.

In the YouTube comments of the initial reports of Trump’s indictment, there were many people saying that they didn’t believe the jury was acting fairly. One commenter even emphasized that nowhere in the constitution does it say that having a criminal charge makes you ineligible for being the U.S. president, and isn’t that just a scary thought?

Trump will go on trial, he will get a mugshot taken of him and he will appear before a jury in court. Yet, his base still believes he is worthy of being elected the president of the free world again. America is in a precarious situation where there are few politicians who have put in their candidacy for the highest position in the country, and one of them who has already declared his intent is now going to trial.

And if, by some miracle, Trump isn’t nominated as the Republican candidate, what will happen then? Many Republicans are hopeful that Republican Sen. Ron DeSantis will put his hat into the ring. Yes, DeSantis, the “Don’t Say Gay” bill supporter and the politician who is constantly at odds with “Disney” due to their “wokeness.”

If either of these candidates are elected, the future of the American people is incredibly dismal. These men don’t have what’s best for America at heart. They only believe in protecting themselves and their careers, and will do whatever it takes to keep their images as spotless as possible. Like paying hush money to an adult film actress to cover an affair.