In 2020, Joe Biden, a member of the Silent Generation, offered a defense of democracy as democracy, which was enough for people who remember fascism and actual communism. In an era when many have forgotten that history and lost faith in democracy, GenX Kamala Harris has to do something more: She has to sell democracy, which Trump has been discrediting for a decade, itself.
If you let Trump lie about his own crimes without fact check every day, as ABC does, then you’re engaged in a more egregious act of misrepresenting the truth than Kamala Harris did by misstating whether she prosecuted or was involved in criminal cases over two decades ago.
The two encryption related crimes charged against Telegram founder Pavel Durov pertain to an affirmative requirement to register encryption Telegram provided. That’s a distinction that hasn’t been incorporated in most American reporting.
The “influencers” that Kamala Harris has prioritized up to this point not only reach audiences that many mainstream audiences do not, but they provide other ways to communicate that will be critical to any attempt to beat Donald Trump.
The superseding indictment against Trump didn’t, just, remove all mention of Trump’s government officials and tweak the language to emphasize his role as candidate. It also shored up the focus on preventing Joe Biden’s electoral certificates from being counted in a way that DOJ has started to do with some crime scene defendants.
Jack Smith did supersede the January 6 indictment against Trump: but it is simply a pared down indictment, mostly removing Jeffrey Clark.
Kamala Harris’ campaign has started to play with Trump’s impulse control. The debate over the debate is only the latest example.
The Proud Boys’ sedition trial and the prosecution of Enrique Tarrio’s DC cop buddy, Shane Lamond show that Telegram can be absolutely central to a successful prosecution. Where it may provide criminals their greatest advantage, however, is in trying to prevent future crime.
Several outlets have reported that Jack Smith is not going to ask for mini-trial on Trump’s January 6 charges before the election. That may mean he has decided to supersede the existing indictment. But we likely wouldn’t see that until after the election.
Contrary to a common interpretation of the DNC, Kamala Harris is not eschewing the incumbency she has Vice President. She is running on a continuation and expansion of Joe Biden’s successful policies. And she is running, just as Joe Biden did and was doing, on defeating both Trump’s electoral bid but also the threat he poses to democracy itself.
