Opinion: Trump tried to turn dead-serious Miami case into a campaign sideshow

Donald Trump tried to turn indictment day into campaign day in Miami on Tuesday — and he kind of succeeded.

The former president, well known for his embrace of circus showman P.T. Barnum’s motto that there’s no such thing as bad publicity, did his best to turn his court appearance into a spectacle — or at least a vehicle to reach voters. And what else would we expect by now from an ex-reality TV host whose loyalists delight in his political theater?

Trump wants to distract from the enormous weight of the charges against him. He wants to build the case that he’s being unfairly persecuted. And so he started his flim-flam act as soon as he got to Florida, the night before his court appearance. He took to Spanish-language radio — in English — airing grievances about the indictment by phone from Trump National Doral Miami hotel. On the call, he attacked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, calling him “DeSanctimonious” and said he was beating him in polls about the GOP presidential contest by many, many points.

After court, he went to Versailles restaurant in Miami’s Little Havana, where he waded into the crowd to shake hands and pray with supporters who serenaded him with “Happy Birthday” early, by a day. He gave a brief speech about a nation in decline, one of his favorite lines. Then he was set for a flight out of town and an evening speech from his Bedminster golf club in New Jersey.

Despite the seriousness of the charges, Trump clearly viewed the court appearance as one more way to campaign. He had been encouraging supporters to show up outside the federal courthouse in downtown Miami, posting on a social-media account before the court hearing, “See you in Miami on Tuesday,” and following up with a 2024 campaign email saying, “ON MY WAY TO COURTHOUSE. WITCHHUNT!!! MAGA.”

As always, there were those prepared to do Trump’s bidding — though there wasn’t a particularly large crowd at the courthouse. Figures like Alex Otaola, a Cuban-American, YouTube influencer running for Miami-Dade County mayor, urged followers on Instagram to attend a peaceful demonstration against Trump’s prosecution. There were appearances by Proud Boys and Blacks for Trump and people having side conversations about what QAnon conspiracy theory really means. There was at least one Jan. 6 convict and a guy with a pig’s head, a real one, on a pike. A dump truck driver leaned on his horn as he drove by, saying “Donald Trump is king!” A man dressed as Uncle Sam sang a version of the song “I fought the law,” but with lyrics that went: “Trump fought the law and Trump won.”

There were more reasonable voices, too, that helped tell the story of Trump’s unwavering support among some voters — people like uncle and nephew Phong and Hoang Nguyen of Tamarac. Both said they are from Vietnam and fear communism could come to America. They took time off from work to support the former president.

Another man, Jay Bose of Naples, said Trump’s indictment “makes me stronger to support him. When they fight this hard to get this man out of power, you know you’re on the right track.”

But the Trump fervor, no matter how entertaining or scary or patriotic — depending on your point of view — is nothing but a sideshow at a moment when the attention needs to be on the actual charges against the former president. The 37 charges in the indictment are grave. The 45th president has already become the nightmare that the founders tried so hard to guard against, a tyrant at the top. Conviction would be more terrible proof of his profound betrayal of the United States.

There were some anti-Trump protesters at the courthouse Tuesday. One carried a sign saying: “Floriduh where democracy goes to die.” We cannot let that become true.

Trump wants us to believe that the bright light of this scrutiny is merely the spotlight trained on the ringmaster of the carnival. But it’s not. It’s sunshine, the best disinfectant, and it’s long overdue.

The Miami Herald