The liberal media celebrated and mocked former President Donald Trump on Friday after Special Counsel Jack Smith unsealed Trump’s federal indictment.
Trump faces seven charges and 37 counts in connection to the 11 sets of classified documents stored in his private residence at Mar-a-Lago. The indictment includes 31 counts of willful retention of national security information and one count of “conspiracy to obstruct justice.”
MSNBC host Joy Reid warned it will be “dangerous” and “ugly” for Smith and his team as they oversee the case and trial.
“Donald Trump and his people are going to provide the high drama while the prosecutors who are gonna be on the receiving end — I cannot even imagine how vicious it is going to be and how dangerous it’s going to be and how ugly it’s going to be,” Reid said, drawing a contrast between Trump’s angry response to the indictment and Smith’s “no-nonsense” tone.
Reid added she is “struck” by Trump’s “casual misuse” of classified material and national security information in home, and “relieved” about the indictment. Photographs included in the indictment show boxes of documents spread out throughout the residence, including the bathroom.
“It’s sad and it’s shocking but it’s also — it makes me feel a bit relieved,” she continued. “Because Donald Trump, when you’re finished being president — that’s what George Washington said — you just go back to being an ordinary citizen. And any citizen who did this would be prosecuted.”
MSNBC’s Chris Hayes and Joe Scarborough also made statements mocking Trump.
“Who could have predicted that being Donald Trump’s valet would end up getting you indicted for crimes?” Hayes tweeted, referring to Trump’s indicted aide Walt Nauta.
Who could have predicted that being Donald Trump’s valet would end up getting you indicted for crimes?
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) June 9, 2023
Like, we all saw him do it?
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) June 9, 2023
“As president I could have declassified it…Now I can’t. But it’s still a secret,” MSNBC host Joe Scarborough posted, citing a statement Trump allegedly made, according to the indictment.
“As president I could have declassified it…Now I can’t. But it’s still a secret.” https://t.co/nA1iJIQRfn
— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) June 9, 2023
CNN political commentator Alice Stewart criticized Republicans for refusing to denounce Trump following the indictment.
“Many are still standing by him. There’s a cult of personality behind Donald Trump that will continue to stay with him,” Stewart told anchor Anderson Cooper.
CNN political commentator Adam Kinzinger, a former Republican congressman, claimed Republicans would “go absolutely crazy” and launch impeachment proceedings if this had been former President Barack Obama. (RELATED: ‘Deranged Lunatic’: Trump Tears Into Special Counsel Overseeing Indictment)
“This is a whole new level of hypocrisy and when that hypocrisy affects national defense secrets, by the way, these national defense secrets, they don’t change,” Kinzinger said. “It’s not like every week there’s some new plan, whether it’s a war in Iran or something being planned, they stay on the shelf. So these are evergreen plans and I just look at that and go, ‘Man, the hypocrisy of it all,’ particularly when in 2016, the whole ‘Lock Her Up’ chant we all know so well is about classified material,” he continued, referring to allegations about 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s use of an unsecured email server.
Cooper said Trump’s indictment was “completely unnecessary” because Trump could have returned the documents to the National Archives and Records Administration at any time. The former president ignored multiple subpoenas regarding the material.