Less than an hour after a jury convicted Donald Trump of 34 crimes, Senator Tim Scott freed a one minute video of himself condemning the result. That wouldn’t be especially notable — the South Carolina Republican clearly wants to be his party’s vice presidential nominee, making such antics inevitable – except the senator blamed the president Joe Biden for the prosecution.
“The injustice of Joe Biden,” said Scott. “Joe Biden’s two-tier system of injustice. Weaponizing the judicial system of the United States of America against a political adversary? Not American.”
The rhetoric was clearly absurd, even by 2024 standards. There is literally no evidence that the White House is involved in the case, just as there is literally no evidence that the White House is using the justice system as a weapon. Scott is not the only Republican peddling this ridiculous and almost dangerous rhetoric, but repetition only makes the situation worse.
As HuffPost noted over the weekend, even one of Trump’s former lawyers marveled at the inanity.
Asked to respond to Scott’s absurd claims, Tacopina, during an appearance on MSNBC, specifically said, “I kind of lost a lot of respect for what I just heard because he seemed so uneducated and unintelligent and didn’t make any sense.”
Trump’s former lawyer continued: “So to say that Joe Biden opened this case is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard. We know that’s not the case, and even Trump’s lawyers know that’s not the case.”
Tacopina added that Biden and Justice Department officials have “absolutely nothing to do with the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.”
Tacopina: Tim Scott is someone I respected, but I lost a lot of respect because of what I just heard… To say that Biden brought this case is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard. We know that’s not the case, and even Trump’s lawyers know that’s not the case. pic.twitter.com/eyu7KrXaqV
-Acyn (@Acyn) June 1, 2024
Complicating matters for Republicans, this isn’t the first time a former Trump lawyer has said the opposite of what the party wanted to hear. Ty Cobb, for example, spoken in ways that the former president didn’t like it; Timothy Parlatore has publicly misappropriated from the GOP script; and former Attorney General Bill Barr was a thorn in Trump’s side as its legal crises escalated.
Tacopina, in other words, has a lot of company.
This article was originally published in MSNBC.com
