WASHINGTON — The Trump circus is back to witness the former president, Donald Trump, make history again: One insurrection, two impeachments and now three separate arraignments on felony charges.
The former president himself is nowhere to be seen, having entered the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse through its parking garage.
But his divisive presence is everywhere. And for some, it’s a celebration — even as they don’t dare give reporter’s their last names out of fear of what they see as a standing threat from the MAGA mob.
“Why am I so happy? Because the motherf—– deserves to go to jail,” Nimesha, who’s holding a “Donald is the nastiest skank b—- I’ve ever met,” tells Raw Story.
Shauna and Nimesha, two people who were demonstrating outside Donald Trump’s federal arraignment on Aug. 3, 2023. Matt Laslo / Raw Story
Nimesha called out of work and trekked two hours from Pennsylvania just to wave signs outside the arraignment with her bestie Shauna, whose sign reads “Donald, you are going from the Gold Throne to the Stainless Steel COMMODE!”
The two started doubting Trump, who pleaded not guilty to charges today, would ever face charges for the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“They’re finally doing something after 2 ½ years,” Shauna says. “It’s taken this long and it’s going to continue to take a really long time for all of us, but we are getting there.”
They’re also not fans of President Joe Biden, calling him “senile.” They just don’t like Trump that much.
“It really scares me, because no other president has been like this where they’re, like, untouchable,” Nimesha says. “And it’s very much cult-y, so to see that Trump isn’t God, is huge.”
Police barricades are everywhere. So are security forces, including Secret Service, U.S. Marshals, Park Police, Homeland Security, D.C. Metropolitan Police, Capitol Police and others. So are journalists, photographers and video cameras, as there seems to be more reporters than law enforcement officials.
Matt Laslo / Raw Story
An older couple walks up, standing out because the woman is carrying a black umbrella – emblazoned, “Lock him up!” – on a hot summer day.
Why the umbrella?
“I don’t want anyone to mistake me for a Trump supporter, you know what I mean?” Paula, a retired nurse, tells Raw Story.
Paula and her husband, Mark, were scheduled to be in D.C. for sightseeing, but things changed.
“We decided to come here and see a little history,” Mark says.
Because they’re from Georgia they say the black umbrella was essential.
Matt Laslo / Raw Story
“We fit the criteria of the MAGA people. It’s disgusting to me,” Paula says.
No Trump circus would be complete without an awkwardly unfunny, yet loud, Trump impersonator rocking an orange jumpsuit.
Matt Laslo / Raw Story
There’s also a massive inflatable rat. And at least one D.C. street rat, which scurried past the inflatable one to the shrieks of unsuspecting onlookers.
Because, if anything, Washington is still predictable, even after four years of the Trump show – a show that special counsel Jack Smith wants to end with a conviction of a former U.S. president who, at present, is the hands-down leader for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.
