In a searing indictment of the current political climate, ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos delivered a sobering assessment of the state of American politics, highlighting the alarming normalization of a criminal candidacy under Donald Trump. During Sundays edition of “This Week,” Stephanopoulos underscored the gravity of the situation, warning of the perilous path the nation treads as Trump shatters norms and embraces criminality within his own party.
“Until now, no American president had ever faced a criminal trial. No American president had ever faced a federal indictment for retaining and concealing classified documents,” Stephanopoulos began. “No American president had ever faced a federal indictment or a state indictment or trying to overturn an election or been named an unindicted co conspirator in two other states for the same crime.”
He continued: “No American president ever face hundreds of millions of dollars in judgments for business fraud, defamation and sexual abuse. Until now, no American presidential race had been more defined by what’s happening in courtrooms than what’s happening on the campaign trail. Until now, the scale of the abnormality is so staggering that it can actually become numbing,”
“It’s all too easy to fall into reflexive habits to treat this as a normal campaign. Both sides embrace the rule of law where both sides are dedicated to a debate based on facts and the peaceful transfer of power. But that is not what’s happening this election year. Those bedrock tenets of our democracy are being tested in a way we haven’t seen since the Civil War. Tests for the candidates for those of us in the media are all of us as citizens,” he said.
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Stephanopoulos’s words serve as a chilling reminder of the profound aberration that characterizes the current political landscape. Never before has an American president faced the specter of criminal trial, federal indictment, and allegations of election subversion to the extent seen under the Trump administration. The laundry list of accusations is staggering: from retaining and concealing classified documents to being implicated as an unindicted co-conspirator in multiple states, Trump’s rap sheet reads like a rogue’s gallery of misconduct.
The gravity of the situation extends beyond mere legal entanglements. It permeates the very fabric of democracy, casting a dark shadow over the foundational principles of rule of law and peaceful transfer of power. As Stephanopoulos aptly observes, the bedrock tenets of American democracy are under siege in a manner not witnessed since the Civil War. The very essence of the electoral process has been hijacked by courtroom dramas, with the spectacle eclipsing substantive policy debate on the campaign trail.
Yet, amidst this crisis, there exists a dangerous temptation to normalize the abnormal, to treat Trump’s criminal candidacy as just another facet of the political landscape. Such complacency, however, is a luxury the nation cannot afford. The stakes are too high, the threat too grave. To accept this state of affairs as the new normal is to surrender to the erosion of democracy itself.
Indeed, the burden falls not only on political candidates and the media but on every citizen to confront this existential threat head-on. We must heed Stephanopoulos’s call to arms, to resist the lure of apathy and instead confront the reality of the moment with unwavering resolve. Our democracy hangs in the balance, and the time for action is now.
As we grapple with the enormity of the challenge before us, let us draw strength from the resilience of our democratic institutions. Let us reject the normalization of criminality in our political leadership and demand accountability from those who seek to subvert the rule of law.
In the face of adversity, let us stand united in defense of democracy, for the soul of our nation depends on it. Vote!
Watch the segment in the video below:
(VIDEO) This is an absolute must-watch video from one of America’s great journalists, @GStephanopoulos. pic.twitter.com/A8hwAixLOI
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 28, 2024
