Donald Trump, always the ringmaster, should feel at home amid South Florida political circus

America waits for the next move on Donald Trump. Image via AP.

Former President Donald Trump, still aggrieved from his 2020 loss and reeling from the “witch hunt” Democrats have launched against him, really wants his old job back.

He won’t be deterred by something so silly as a first-ever federal indictment of a former U.S. President.

Or that he’s now been indicted twice.

Or that he’s probably going to get indicted again.

Instead, he’ll be in Miami Tuesday to be arraigned on 37 counts, all felonies and most (31!) related to violations of the Espionage Act. But don’t expect a forlorn Trump, at least not publicly. Expect Trump to take a somber, serious matter, and turn it into a circus rife with fundraising pleas, outrage at the fake news media and calls for his supporters to own the libs by continuing their unwavering support.

As ringmaster of this circus, Trump should feel right at home.

Of course someone who allegedly stashed boxes full of government documents in a bathroom would be getting digitally fingerprinted in Miami. After all, this is where Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is facing three FBI investigations for allegedly accepting at least $170,000 from a local developer in exchange for advocating for a $70 million project in the city’s Coconut Grove neighborhood.

And of course someone who is reportedly on tape admitting to sharing classified documents with people who don’t have the needed security clearances to see them would be doing, basically, a perp walk in a city where Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo just lost a more than $60 million lawsuit. That suit featured two local businessmen accusing Carollo of “weaponizing” city resources in his personal vendetta against them for supporting a political rival, a case that is leaving the city exposed to millions more in damages.

Jog on over to North Miami Beach where its Mayor, Anthony DeFillipo, is now on indefinite suspension from his role after being arrested for allegedly voting three times in North Miami Beach while actually living in nearby Davie.

Had enough?

Rep. Fabian Basabe, who represents Miami Beach, is under investigation in the House for allegedly slapping an aide and, before he was elected, was once chased across state lines by U.S. Marshals following strong arm robbery accusations.

Former Plantation Mayor Lynn Stoner recently turned herself in to a Broward County jail to face charges related to campaign finance violations and other illegal actions that benefitted a developer.

That’s all just in South Florida politics and doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of the countless other Florida Man stories rife in one of America’s most picturesque locales.

It’s Crazy Town, and Trump is on the way to serve as its President.

While there are countless jokes to be made about South Florida shenanigans, Trump’s arraignment is no laughing matter.

It was a big deal when Trump got impeached, making him only the third President in American history to carry that distinction. Then he got impeached again and became the only U.S. President to be impeached twice.

The world should have been shocked when Trump faced his first indictment, from the Manhattan District Attorney on 34 felony charges related to hush money payments to, no kidding, a porn star. But in the same way South Floridians are nonplussed when a local political official does something stupid here, Americans — those in the apolitical middle who aren’t either ferociously anti-Trump or unabashedly pro-Trump — just kind muttered a discouraged “of course he was” under their breath and moved on.

The second indictment, this one on federal charges, seemed heavier. And it is. Trump’s own former Attorney General, Bill Barr, has said the charges are serious, predicting that “if even half of it is true, then he’s toast.”

Yet as serious as these charges are — among the many allegations Trump faces is one that he shared classified intelligence about a “plan of attack” on another country with an author and publisher for a book on his presidency and two staffers, none of whom had the security clearance to be given access to such information — Republicans by and large are not expressing outrage.

Let us remember, Trump is still very much running for President. He’s the front-runner for the GOP nomination. And people are still endorsing him.

Even his own rivals in the GOP Primary are defending him, albeit sometimes in a backhanded sort of way.

So what is it going to take for the GOP to stop defending, normalizing or otherwise kowtowing to a man who is turning American politics into a South Florida-level circus?

The closest example we have to what’s happening with Trump is Richard Nixon’s resignation in 1974. After discovering audio evidence showing Nixon had directed the FBI and CIA to cover up the break-in at Watergate, 10 fellow Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee who had voted in committee against impeaching Nixon changed their mind. It was Barry Goldwater who delivered the news to Nixon, prompting him to resign and avoid impeachment.

The problem now, with Trump, is there doesn’t appear to be a group of Republicans ready to dismantle Trump and there isn’t a Barry Goldwater to deliver the news. Instead, there is a complicit Kevin McCarthy, an unmoving Lindsay Graham and a tranche of GOP leaders and foot soldiers either refusing to speak up or speaking up with the type of whataboutism that mark modern-day politics.

While those in South Florida who have run afoul of various political and governmental laws and norms are facing consequences — whether it’s removal from office, expensive lawsuit losses or criminal charges — it remains to be seen whether Trump will ever be meaningfully punished for his transgressions. So far, he certainly hasn’t had to face the music in politics.