The Democrats’ talking point heading into their party convention in Chicago was about “joy,” but they regressed into division on the first night, bringing out former nominee Hillary Clinton to taunt former President Donald Trump.
Clinton smirked as she called Trump “”the first person to run for president with 34 felony convictions.”
Trump was convicted in May in Manhattan by a prosecutor who had run for office promising to put him in jail, on charges that had never been brought in New York State before — and which, if applied to Clinton herself, would have resulted in her own conviction.
Trump was accused of failing to report payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels as campaign expenditures; Clinton hid campaign expenditures on Fusion GPS, the firm that invented the “Russia collusion” hoax.
Clinton’s reference to the case of Stormy Daniels — with whom Trump has denied having an affair — was also ironic: Clinton, of course, is married to philanderer Bill Clinton, whose affair with an intern led to his impeachment.
Moreover, Clinton was widely viewed as having skated in 2016 on potential charges of abusing official documents and classified information, after she kept emails on a private server that were never turned back over to the government.
As she taunted Trump, the crowd broke into chants of “Lock him up!” Clinton tried to talk over the crowd at first, but then let them continue chanting. (Trump faces potential jail time in New York after his sentencing in September.)
Clinton’s reference to Trump’s convictions was no accident; it was part of the convention’s message for the evening. Immediately after she spoke, a video was shown about Trump’s case, and his other prosecutions. The video edited Trump’s speech on January 6, 2021, deceptively, omitting the words “peacefully and patriotically.” It also claimed, falsely, that Trump warned of a “bloodbath” if he lost (he was speaking about the consequences in the car industry).
The next speaker was Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), who voted against certifying Trump’s Electoral College victory in 2017, and yet led the effort to impeach Trump for challenging the election results in 2021. Raskin also served on the January 6 Committee, which destroyed its documents as soon as Democrats lost control of Congress.
The mood shifted from “joy” to division — a mistake Democrats may regret as they look back, one day, on Clinton’s speech.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of “”The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of “The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency,” now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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