Trump is no Cousin Ray Ray

The judge in Donald Trump’s case in New York, which revolves around charges that the GOP boss paid off a porn star to keep an affair quiet and lied about it to flim-flam voters, has gotten a ton of media coverage. Judge Juan M. Merchan has warned the presidential hopeful that “…violations of a gag order barring Trump from inflammatory out-of-court comments about witnesses, jurors, and others closely connected to the case could result in jail time.”

A $1,000 fine in early May was the second time the judge punished Trump for disobeying the order. He was previously fined $9,000, which was $1,000 each for nine violations. 

“It appears that the $1,000 fines are not serving as a deterrent. Therefore, going forward, this court will have to consider a jail sanction,” said Judge Merchan, in an Associated Press report. “Trump’s statements,” the judge added, “threaten to interfere with the fair administration of justice and constitute a direct attack on the rule of law. I cannot allow that to continue.

“The last thing I want to do is put you in jail,” Merchan continued. “You are the former President of the United States and possibly the next president as well. There are many reasons why incarceration is truly a last resort for me.” 

The tipping point violation happened in a television interview “in which Trump criticized the speed at which the jury was picked and claimed, without evidence, that it was stacked with Democrats.” His trial appears on the verge of wrapping up.

Since the threats, Trump has kept on being Trump. Speaking May 11 at a campaign rally in Wildwood, N.J., he blasted Judge Merchan and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg as White House agents trying to torpedo his reelection bid. Neither the judge nor the prosecutor are covered under the gag order, which Trump recently again condemned after the judge denied efforts by the ex-president to alter it. 

The day the judge warned of possible jail, May 6, Trump told the media: “Our Constitution is much more important than jail… I’ll do that sacrifice any day.”

One estimate put his New Jersey rally’s attendance at 80,000 to 100,000 people on a Saturday evening. “They have to cheat and smear him and humiliate him in that courtroom every single day,” one Trumpster told the Associated Press. “This country is going to go insane if they steal the election again.”
Insulting the judge, prosecutors, jurors, and the legal process is nothing new for Trump, whom Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) once called the “former White supremacist in chief.” Between some polling and a Black conservative event in South Carolina, Mr. MAGA Man has argued Blacks are siding with him. 

Blacks see him being unfairly treated, given four cases and 91 indictments, he declared. These things resonate with Blacks who have suffered from criminal justice system wrongdoing, Trump said.
Let’s stop the nonsense: Trump isn’t Cousin Ray Ray hoping not to go to prison. Let’s speak straight words.
  Some Prison Policy Initiative facts: Black Americans are 13 percent of the U.S. population and 37 percent of people in prison. Blacks are 48 percent of people serving life, life without parole, or “virtual life” sentences. Arrest rates for Black vs. white Americans? 6,109 per 100,000 for Blacks vs. 2,795 per 100,000 for Whites. Number of arrests of Black Americans in 2018? 2.8 million. The percentage of people on probation or parole who are Black? Thirty percent.

Whiteness, wealth and warriors

Last, Trump comes with whiteness, wealth and warriors. His supporters are armed and angry. We’ve seen what they did on January 6, 2020, in an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Much of the country worries about what a guilty verdict or the fall election could bring. A recent poll found 41 percent of Americans believe civil war is coming, some say in as little as five years.

So, while Trump is the champion of white lives, a defender of white interests, and an example of white suffering, Ray Ray is just trying to catch a break. Trump is a man of wealth with wealthy friends and has found a place in the hearts and wallets of supporters. He’s gon’ be alright. Ray Ray is waiting for his girlfriend to put some money on prison books so he can buy Oodles of Noodles.

Editor’s note: This article was edited for length.

Naba’a Muhammad, the award-winning Final Call Newspaper editor, is host of “Straight Words With Naba’a Richard Muhammad, Bj Murphy, and James G. Muhammad,” which airs live Tuesdays, 9 p.m. to 12 a.m Central Time, on WVON AM 1690 Black Talk Radio Chicago and is live streamed at the iHeart Radio app and WVON.com. Get more of his writing and content at straightwords.com.