Opinion | Guilty or innocent, Trump’s attacks on US justice system are having the desired destructive effect

Former US president Donald Trump’s arraignment last week dominated the headlines. For the first time in US history, a former or current president has been indicted. However, the primary issue regarding these developments must not be whether Trump will be found guilty but how much more damage his continuing delegitimisation of the US justice system will cause.

His first public appearance after the arraignment left little doubt that he would seek to use the indictments for his political agenda and continue his disregard for the justice system he displayed during his time in office. Speaking to supporters at Mar-a-Lago in West Palm Beach, Florida, Trump called the indictments “election interference”, while labelling it the “darkest chapter in American history” – slavery, the Civil War, Jim Crow, Pearl Harbour and the September 11 attacks apparently notwithstanding.

The preposterous hyperbole, gaslighting and falsehoods are all out of Trump’s usual playbook. During his presidency, he never tired of portraying himself as a victim of malevolent forces, including Democrats who he claimed sought to eliminate him and whose magnum opus culminated in an allegedly stolen election.

Now, with Trump being the presumptive Republican nominee for next year’s presidential election in the eyes of many pundits, the “most innocent man in the history of our country” – as he has described himself – has once again been targeted by his political enemies. In a rational environment, such remarks would be seen as comedic relief at best.

However, given the current divisions in the United States, they are far more serious and sinister than they appear. After all, Trump’s modus operandi has long been to discredit institutions that might hold him accountable, whether it’s the press, elections or the courts.

His strategy of victimhood and the fight against an allegedly unjust system has become a recurring strategy. Whether it was riling up his supporters on January 6, warnings about “death and destruction” or threats of purging “deep state” actors from the Department of Justice and intelligence agencies, all are attacks on the democratic framework of the US. Trump, who waged war against the concept of truth during his presidency, now has an entire campaign against the rule of law.