Thrice-indicted Donald Trump’s attempt to move his latest federal case out of Washington and away from Judge Tanya Chutkan seems to rest on the same sort of bigotry he used to push lies about the 2020 election after he lost. Namely, that some people are inherently suspicious — and unfit to partake in the electoral or judicial process.
And as I see it, it’s no coincidence that many of these people are nonwhite.
Think back to the end of 2020, when it had become clear Trump had lost the election to Joe Biden. Trump and his associates’ key claims at the time involved purported election fraud in cities with large Black and brown communities, such as Atlanta, Detroit, Milwaukee and Philadelphia.
Courts repeatedly dismissed Trump’s claims of election fraud, but his followers were nonetheless led to believe that these communities were rife with criminals who had stolen the election from him.
The implication seemed clear. Courts repeatedly dismissed Trump’s claims of election fraud, but his followers were nonetheless led to believe that these communities were rife with criminals who had stolen the election from him. And when we look at the way conservatives acted on Trump’s lies, it seems clear that race was front of mind for many of them. In some cases, they lobbed racist threats and insults at Black folks targeted by Trump, or they used thinly veiled racism to malign cities with large Black communities as inherently corrupt.
Trump didn’t need to use racial slurs for this to be racist. He and his associates simply had to target Black folks and these cities, and the MAGA movement apparently knew what to do.
I think we’re seeing a similar strategy at play in Trump’s effort to have his election-related criminal trial moved out of Washington. One of his lawyers laughably suggested that West Virginia would be somewhere that actually “reflects the characteristics of the American people.” (Here, it’s important to note that West Virginia is about 93% white and less than 4% Black, while Washington is around 46% white and 45% Black.)
Trump lawyer John Lauro on CBS: "We would like a diverse venue, a diverse jury … I think West Virginia will be an excellent venue to try this case. Close to DC and a much more diverse–" pic.twitter.com/ib6S2Mdd7l
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 6, 2023
And Trump’s social media attacks on Judge Tanya Chutkan’s credibility — including his claim that she must recuse herself because there’s “no way” he can get a fair trial in her court — mirror remarks he has made about other nonwhite judges and prosecutors who’ve tried to hold him accountable. It hearkens back to Trump’s claim that federal Judge Gonzalo Curiel couldn’t fairly oversee the Trump University fraud case because of his Mexican heritage.
When Trump’s in legal or political trouble, he often points a finger at people of color, tries to discredit them, and seeks to deprive them of their power to punish him. And as mentioned, his followers have been known to go on the attack in response.
Which makes a new CNN report sound all the more urgent. On Monday, the news organization reported that Chutkan’s security detail has been beefed up.
Seems very smart to me.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.