Commentary
The imagery projected was clearly deliberate during the raid on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home this week. It could have all been handled discreetly, but it wasn’t. Flashing police lights, sirens, blocking all the exits with armed police: It was crafted for the media and public consumption. Was it necessary to send in that number of FBI agents? Was there really a threat that Trump staffers would somehow destroy records? Of course not. This was crafted to paint Trump in the most undesirable light on national TV.
The raid, we have been led to believe, was to recover records, potentially classified, that the former president allegedly had in his possession. Bear in mind, Trump had already provided 15 boxes of material to the archives upon their request. So why was there a need for a demonstrative show of such an armed force?…