The Only Noteworthy Speech at Trump Con Shouldn’t Have Happened

If, like most people, you opted not to tune in for the first night of Trump Con, the midterm convention Republicans put on to stroke the president’s fragile ego, you didn’t miss much. Sure, there was the puzzling video message from John Fetterman, the Democrat-ish senator from Pennsylvania, and, of course, the dubious promise of a trillion-dollar bribe from Donald Trump himself, but neither of those things was surprising.

There was, however, one noteworthy appearance: that of the president’s personal lawyer Todd Blanche, who is currently cosplaying as attorney general.

A month ago, shortly after he was barely confirmed because even (a couple of) Republicans had some concerns over his blind allegiance to Trump, his involvement in the slush fund that was supposed to reward people who committed crimes on the president’s behalf, and his (mis)handling of the Epstein files, we reported on Blanche’s appearance with his boss at a thinly disguised rally in New York.

Even that was grossly inappropriate and shattered norms. As we pointed out, merely a decade ago, it was a big deal — with criticism coming from both parties — when former President Bill Clinton had an unplanned meeting with then Attorney General Loretta Lynch on the tarmac of Phoenix airport at a time when the Department of Justice (DOJ) was investigating his wife, who was the Democratic presidential nominee at a time.

However, one could make the case that this was not a campaign event but rather something having to do with law enforcement since there were some cops in the background as props. It wouldn’t be a strong case, but still.

There was no such pretense on Wednesday.

It’s mind-boggling that the one person in the cabinet who is supposed to be impartial as the “people’s lawyer” would show up at a blatantly political event like this, as House Judiciary Committee Democrats pointed out ahead of his appearance.

“In our history, no sitting US Attorney General, Democrat or Republican, has ever appeared to speak at a political party convention,” they noted. “Until now.”

They added that Blanche speaking at the event is “dumbfounding and unprecedented.” They aren’t wrong.

Then again, it is also hardly surprising, seeing how Blanche is a partisan hack who has demonstrated that he will always put Trump’s needs above those of the nation.

While the real scandal here is that the attorney general showed up at all, let’s also look at what he said because that should also raise some eyebrows.

Blanche’s remarks were about accountability, of which there has been precious little during the first 18 months of Trump’s second term in office even though the president is enriching himself, and his administration is breaking the law, left and right.

“If you traffic children, you will be held accountable,” Blanche said, which is ironic seeing how he is not complying with the law that mandates the release of the vast majority of the Epstein files.

“If you choose violence, you will be held accountable,” he added. Of course, that does not apply to the masked ICE agents who killed at least three Americans and are assaulting protesters all over the country without facing consequences.

And, finally, Blanche also claimed that Trump will “always back the blue” but conveniently left out the part where the president pardoned his supporters who assaulted cops on January 6 in an effort to overturn his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden.

While we disagree with House Judiciary Democrats who believe that the attorney general’s speech may have violated the law — presumably they mean the Hatch Act, which prohibits executive branch employees from engaging in political activities in their official capacity — at a minimum, Blanche’s presence at Trump Con not only highlights his questionable judgment but also proves once again that he is unfit for the job.