Former President Donald Trump was arraigned in Washington, D.C. for the charges against him in the January 6 trial on Thursday, where he pleaded not guilty to offenses related to the plot to steal the 2020 presidential election.
The event reverberated around the political world, with experts and strategists reacting explosively.
“I never thought I’d live to see an American President arrested & arraigned for crimes committed while in office,” wrote Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former White House official in the Trump administration who turned against the former president in the run-up to the January 6 attack. “But I also never thought I’d see a President engage in the actions Donald J. Trump did associated with 1/6. A historic day in America.”
“I’m not lying; I’m having a cocktail before this one,” said Rick Wilson, a former Republican strategist and co-founder of the Lincoln Project, on Twitter.
“I’m personally very happy to make 2024 about whether we should put Trump back in power,” wrote Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin. “I can’t for the life of me figure out why GOP apologists seem to want the same. Oh well. Match on!”
Michael Steele, a former Republican National Committee chair and harsh critic of the current GOP, had some blunt words. “Republicans, as you watch the man you tout as better than John McCain, more successful than Reagan and stronger than Lincoln get processed for the 3rd time, perhaps now you agree Donald Trump must immediately suspend his campaign and Republicans must choose a better leader.”
Legal experts had a number of thoughts about the situation.
“I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see this case go to trial in March of next year,” wrote longtime federal organized crime prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega. “Alvin Bragg has already suggested that he’s willing to give up his trial date to allow this federal case to proceed.”
Attorney and political scientist Aaron Parnas said, “From what I gather, this third arraignment has been the most serious by far, and I would not be surprised if, for the first time, Donald Trump is feeling the weight of the federal government as he sits at the Defendant’s table.”
