Tribe > Truth

Remember those movies we used to watch when we were kids, where there was always some scheming, duplicitous villain and the hero knew he was scheming and duplicitous, but no one else could see through the villain’s carefully constructed facade? And then at some point, the hero set a trap for the villain. Maybe she caught him on a hot mic, or on an audio recording. The villain’s true nature was exposed, and his erstwhile followers and allies all turned against him. Movies and TV shows like those reinforced the belief that the vast majority of us care about truth, and would reject corrupt and fraudulent leaders if we only knew of their corruption. In recent years our society has put that belief to the test. The results have not been flattering. Whether he was bragging about sexual assault or soliciting a bribe from a foreign leader, Americans have had plenty of chances to see who Donald Trump really is when you peek behind the curtain. But the longed-for denouement, in which the villain gets his comeuppance and the values of honesty and integrity are reaffirmed, never came. So it should be no surprise when a slew of indictments, most notably for his role in attempting to overthrow American democracy, put nary a dent in Trump’s approval rating. Perhaps that will change when the actual trials begin, but I’m not holding my breath.Instead, expect Trump and his followers to turn what should be a chance at national catharsis into yet another flashpoint in the ceaseless culture wars. I’ve already written an article explaining why whataboutist arguments about Hillary Clinton’s emails hold no water. In this piece, I want to address another claim we’re going to be hearing a lot in the months ahead: that Trump is being prosecuted for nothing more than exercising his right to free speech. This issue is both very simple and very complex, depending on which version of the argument we’re dealing with. Let’s start with the simple and move on from there.

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