Trump is using the old O.J. Simpson tactics

O.J. Simpson has passed away. However, he lives as a player in the 2024 presidential election.

Simpson’s famous murder trial proved beyond any reasonable doubt that the rich and famous can create a media circus and fabricate a process with endless delays. Exhibit A of Simpson’s continued power is currently on display in the case of New York v. Donald Trump.

President Trump is emulating Simpson, who routinely uses celebrity and race to divert public attention from allegations of election interference using “hush money” payments to adult film actresses.

Already attention has shifted from the criminal charges to the gag order imposed on President Trump after his comments about the judge. There are also President Trump’s persistent insults and racist attacks against black prosecutors. It all parallels Simpson’s ploy to capitalize on black people’s distrust of white police.

President Trump has also made himself the victim of a Latino judge and has stepped up his loud dog whistles against his white supremacist supporters.

Even before the trial began, President Trump said Judge Juan Melchán should resign, citing political bias. He derided Machan as a “highly inconsistent and corrupt judge”. It was a repeat of 2016, when President Trump took office. Said A federal judge in Indiana handling a class-action fraud lawsuit against Trump University claimed the university was biased against him because he is Mexican.

“My judge hates Donald Trump, he hates him,” he said. Said At a gathering.

Judge Gonzalo Curiel was born in Indiana to Mexican immigrant parents. That was enough for Trump to launch a racist attack.

President Trump has also used racist tactics against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, New York State Attorney General Letitia James, and Fulton County District Attorney Fannie Willis.

Alvin Bragg said,On the contrary, racist” he wrote online last year. He said Bragg should be held accountable for “interference in the presidential election.”

Mr. Trump also said that Mr. Bragg “Animals supported by SorosThis is an inhumane effort that suggests black prosecutors are recklessly working for George Soros, a major donor to the Democratic Party.

Trump attacked James as “racist AG Leticia…James.”He also complained They said Willis was a “racist” and that the Georgia charges were a “fraudster.”

He said instead of prosecuting himself, Willis should go after anonymous people who claim without evidence that Georgia’s presidential election was rigged. “They only went after those who fought to find the riggers.” he posted. The use of the word “rigger,” which is suspiciously similar to an anti-Black slur, has in turn led Trump supporters on online platforms. Publicly trash Willis By openly using racist language.

Mr. Trump has attacked judges and prosecutors as racists while also trying to ground the stereotype of black people as criminals. absurd claim The police mugshot, he says, has helped boost his standing among black voters.

That tactic was used by Simpson’s supporters. He pointed to the Time cover photo. The artificially darkening of the former soccer player’s face is proof that he was a victim of white racism.

Trump has consistently used race to distract from criminal charges, to the point where his lawyers say he won’t receive a fair trial in Manhattan or Washington, D.C.

Mr Trump is was suggested Moves the New York trial from Manhattan to Republican-leaning Staten Island.

Are their tactics any different than those used by the lawyers for the white police officers charged with assaulting Rodney King? are discussing Should their trial be held in Simi Valley, a predominantly white suburb of Los Angeles? A jury there acquitted the police.

The racial division over Simpson’s crimes began with Simpson. run away He was driving down a Los Angeles freeway in a white Ford Bronco driven by a friend. He brought his passport, money, gun, and disguise.

The fact of his escape and other evidence significantly implicated Simpson. But racial tensions left over from the police acquittal for King’s assault made prosecutors wary of pressing him with evidence not directly related to the murder. The focus then shifted to police actions and the handling of evidence.

The police were on trial and essentially found guilty. The debate between blacks and whites over whether to trust the police continues to this day.

of May 2020 The killing of George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer during Trump’s presidency has brought even more attention to the Black Lives Matter movement, which began six years ago. President Trump and his far-right allies have dismissed the massive nationwide protests of 2020 as a threat and focused on the violence. They also focused on calls to “defund the police,” a fringe view used to attack Democrats, even though violent crime is declining across the country and in most blue cities. Ta.

When Simpson was acquitted in 1995, students at Black Howard University reacted With cheers. Their reaction was less about Simpson’s innocence and more about a sense of retaliation for the reality that racist police were mistreating black people.

Over time, polls show that most people, both black and white, I agree now Simpson was guilty.

Despite the election of a black president, the gains Americans have made in race relations are under threat of backlash, as the Trump presidency has made clear.

It is too late for jurors to see the race games being played by Simpson’s lawyers. Let’s hope it’s not too late for voters to see through the racist manipulation that President Trump is using.

Juan Williams is a writer and political analyst for Fox News Channel..