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Donald Trump Isn't Running A Presidential Campaign
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Donald Trump Isn't Running A Presidential Campaign

It's a campaign for immunity from the law, and Democrats aren't doing nearly enough to counter it.

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Brian Beutler
Mar 20, 2024
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(Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Every now and again it’s fun to hold the unfiltered public comments of normal politicians up against the Donald Trump’s ravings on social media. “Merry Christmas” vs “Haters and Losers” etc.  

If you try that this week, you’ll find Trump completely unmoored from the calendar or any national circumstance. No good tidings for St. Patrick’s Day, no particular interest in federal policy. Trump’s mind has been neatly divided between his hallmark agitprop and unrelenting obsession with evading the nearly half-billion fine he owes the state of New York for serial business fraud. 

When you pan out even further it becomes clear: Trump is scarcely running a presidential campaign. He might become president in spite of this, but his efforts are overwhelmingly fixed on evading justice or mooting judgments he’s already lost by any means necessary. He’d ideally like to prevail in these efforts before the election, but the task will become much easier if he’s able to win or steal the presidency despite the legal peril.  

Take the biggest threats to him one by one, and a pattern quickly emerges: 

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