David Brooks:
Yes, he tells a story, and the story is that they are out to get you and the system is fundamentally broken.
This is a story that many agree with and many believe was vindicated yesterday. I was so struck by how vocal the response was from my Republican friends, Trump supporters and Nikki Haley supporters.
Many of them saw this as the equivalent of January 6th, a day when the justice system was twisted to launch a political attack and the basic institutions of our society were threatened, so they are much more infuriated than I would have expected.
And these are people coming from Susan Collins, a moderate Republican from Maine, on the right. Secondly, I think the political impact of this is going to be a little subtle. People who support him are going to support him. They have a disdain for who he is. And they believe in the fundamental idea that the system is trying to work against you. And this, for them, reinstates that idea.
There are significant numbers of people in polls who say they would reconsider their vote if Donald Trump is convicted. But these are people who aren’t very interested in politics. They supported Biden in 2020 and are now switching to Trump. So they’re low-information, fickle voters, and we don’t know how they’re going to fare.
I don’t think they’ll get very far in their argument. The fundamental system of this story, the fundamental problem with this election, is that the system is broken. We need this guy, as bad as he is, we need him to stand up to the powers that be. And I think they’re going to continue to support him.
