Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson appeared on CNN this week, defending Donald Trump, and suggested that voters should support the former president because the Justice Department is being “weaponized.” Host Abby Phillip asked the Republican whether he had any evidence to support the accusation. Carson replied:
“Well, let’s put it this way. Al Capone, who was a notorious killer, had one indictment, and Donald Trump has four indictments. That would tell you something right there. … It’s evidence that you have a group of people, a system that is out to get this president, and they feel that he is an existential threat to their existence.”
Obviously, this didn’t make a lot of sense. The Justice Department has nothing to do with two of the four indictments; there’s ample evidence to support the charges against the former president; and the idea that there’s some kind of nefarious secret “system” retaliating against Trump is ridiculous.
But let’s not brush past that other point Carson made. Why, exactly, did he think it’d be a good idea to compare Trump to Al Capone? Or more to the point, why do Trump and his allies keep thinking it’s a good idea to compare him to the notorious mobster?
In April 2022, in an online statement that’s since been deleted, Trump whined about his legal difficulties by complaining, “Never before has this happened to another President, and it is an absolute violation of my civil rights…. I’ve been investigated by the Democrats more than Billy the Kid, Jesse James, and Al Capone, combined.”
At face value, it was obviously unfortunate to see the former president present himself to the public as some kind of victim, solely because a variety of prosecutors in multiple jurisdictions took his alleged wrongdoing seriously.
But revisiting our coverage, it was Trump’s comparison that stands out: The Republican apparently thought he’d benefit from being lumped in with a murderer, a notorious bank robber, and one of the most powerful organized crime figures in American history.
Earlier this year, he did it again, publishing a message to his social media platform in which he wrote, “I believe that I have more lawyers working for me on this Corrupt Law Enforcement induced Bull…. than any human being in the history of our Country, including even the late great gangster, Alphonse Capone!”
In September again complained that Capone had fewer indictments. Last month, he echoed the line.
I suspect the comparison is intended to be helpful. The public is probably supposed to believe that Trump is being mistreated because mobsters had shorter rap sheets that the former president.
But as a practical matter, this entire rhetorical push has the opposite effect: It serves as a reminder that Trump stands accused of being a prolific criminal, his not guilty pleas notwithstanding.
Stepping back, it’s one thing when the former president’s critics equate his alleged misconduct with infamous criminals; it’s much stranger when Trump and his allies do the same thing.
This post updates our related earlier coverage.
