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Trump’s sentencing marks the end of the Resistance

The President-elect Donald Trump appears remotely for a sentencing hearing at Manhattan Criminal Court. Credit: Getty

January 10, 2025 - 6:15pm

“It’s been a political witch hunt. It was done to damage my reputation so that I’d lose the election and obviously that didn’t work.” So said President-elect Donald Trump in court on Friday, before Judge Juan Merchan sentenced him to “unconditional discharge” in a virtual hearing. Trump, then, will serve no time for his felony convictions in the hush money case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. As the once and future president mingles with his former enemies in Palm Beach, it appears the era of resistance has given way to the era of acceptance. 

If we cast our minds back to 2016, the climate was very different. After Trump’s victory, a bipartisan coalition of elites did anything it could to thwart the president. Most notably, journalists, politicians, and intelligence officials improperly planted the seeds of the Russia hoax. They bent standards to indict him on offences others had gotten away with for years — all of which blossomed into a state of lawfare and a Democratic campaign organised around it. Recall, for example, the winter of 2018, when the women of Saturday Night Live sang “All I Want For Christmas Is You” to special counsel Robert Mueller. “Mueller, please come through,” they said, “because the only option is a coup.”

In the 2020 election, Mark Zuckerberg played a critical role in what Molly Ball of Time described asa well-funded cabal of powerful people, ranging across industries and ideologies, working together behind the scenes to influence perceptions, change rules and laws, steer media coverage and control the flow of information.” The goal of that “cabal” was, as Ball put it, to “fortify” the election. Against what? Trump, whose second inaugural fund recently received a $1 million boost from Zuckerberg.

The goal of these efforts was to end Trump without addressing the concerns of his voters. There were some legitimate reasons to be frightened by his ascent, but it was delusional to believe he could be purged from politics, locked up, and forgotten. It was even more delusional to believe that this could be accomplished by a campaign that repeatedly violated norms in a way that lent credibility to his points, and drained credibility from the points against him.

But elites were not used to losing. They wanted to chalk 2016 up to a fluke, certain their money and power would restore order in due time. The 2024 election, which saw Trump elected by an even wider margin, appears to have put an end to that delusion.

Why did Elon Musk go from funding the Clinton campaign to camping out at Mar-A-Lago? Cynical or not, it was probably always true that cooperating with Trump would yield more gains than bitterly opposing him. Rather than fighting immigration reform at all costs, Democrats in Congress are currently looking to cooperate on the Laken Riley bill.

That realisation may or may not successfully win the battle for the soul of MAGA. This is the war that looms as Trump’s administration prepares for the inauguration, and Steve Bannon takes aim at Elon Musk. If Bannon emerges a clear winner — which is very much in doubt — perhaps those who wish to banish Trump and his movement will return to their desperate measures.

For now, though, Trump is a free man and his influence is greater than ever.


Emily Jashinsky is UnHerd‘s Washington D.C. Correspondent.

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UnHerd Reader
UnHerd Reader
10 days ago

It was the most flagrant use of state sponsored lawfare the western world has ever known and many people saw this as deeply unfair and wrong.

Tommy Robinson is similar. Robinson will be vindicated too eventually as ever more native people are attacked, murdered and r***d by third world migrants and our two tier policing and justice systems continue to systematically fail the very people who actually pay for them.

Judgement day is coming and we can partially thank DT for that. It’s going to be a fun four years.

Warren Trees
Warren Trees
10 days ago
Reply to  UnHerd Reader

Completely agree. The whole issue of thousands of young girls being systematically raped by a certain cohort, and it being hidden in plain sight, is a very big blemish on British society. I look forward to the trials that will take place and the convictions of those at the top of this scandal. Sadly, it took Elon Musk to bring it to the forefront, which will only encourage him to do more of this.

j watson
j watson
10 days ago
Reply to  Warren Trees

If you actually look at the stats on crime and rape you’ll see white men remain the biggest culprits, often fairly close family members.
Now be consistent in your real interest in abuse of women.

Tony Buck
Tony Buck
10 days ago
Reply to  j watson

So where are the white rape gangs ?

Where are the police chiefs and local authority bigwigs who have covered up for white rapists ?

Samuel Ross
Samuel Ross
9 days ago
Reply to  j watson

If it isn’t counted, it doesn’t count. If the people who keep the statistics don’t count the crimes, the crimes don’t appear in the numbers and a skewed version of “reality” results.

UnHerd Reader
UnHerd Reader
9 days ago
Reply to  j watson

There are no native white rape gangs picking on Pakistani girls are there? Nope. The vast panels of groomers in the papers are all Muslims … the Jay report conflated many different types of abuse to lessen the potential for Muslims to feel victimised. This pandering must stop.

j watson
j watson
10 days ago
Reply to  UnHerd Reader

Oh jeez, what total tosh. No wonder both these Grifters made a fortune. One born every day.
Anyway let’s all have a read of the Jack Smith documents that are going to be released and see what we think.

Carlos Danger
Carlos Danger
10 days ago
Reply to  j watson

We already know what Jack Smith had, since he filed criminal complaints in both his cases. He had nothing.

Dianne Bean
Dianne Bean
9 days ago
Reply to  j watson

Those will be one sided, not yet subject to defense. Simply warfare documents similar to the Russia hoax documents

Cantab Man
Cantab Man
10 days ago
Reply to  UnHerd Reader

Democrats have liberally dished it out to others for eight long years, but can they themselves take it.

This question is likely in their minds as they now kiss the ring, fervently hoping that ‘Karma’ isn’t a real thing.

Tony Price
Tony Price
10 days ago
Reply to  UnHerd Reader

Robinson is a convicted fraudster who is in prison for continuing to spout hateful lies after he was told, correctly, to shut up or be in contempt of court.

Martin Rossol
Martin Rossol
10 days ago
Reply to  Tony Price

A convicted fraudster. And Trump is a convicted felon. I stand with both against the war-loving, rape-allowing, anti-humanity-loving left.

Tony Price
Tony Price
10 days ago
Reply to  Martin Rossol

A man is judged by the company he keeps.

Wilfred Davis
Wilfred Davis
10 days ago
Reply to  Tony Price

And your point would be … ?

Lesley van Reenen
Lesley van Reenen
10 days ago

The Libs meanwhile are celebrating that he is officially now a ‘convicted felon’. What a disgrace this lawfare has been. Is there a way to appeal this?

AC Harper
AC Harper
10 days ago

The argument goes that now Trump has been officially convicted he can appeal. Chances are that his appeal will succeed, even if he has to take it to the Supreme Court.

j watson
j watson
10 days ago
Reply to  AC Harper

Already had a Supreme Ct ruling on whether the Judge could give a ruling. He lost 5-4 but not until after one of his supporting Justices apparently phoned him and seems to have extracted a Govt job for a relative. Wasn’t enough but sign of what’s to come.
He just said that because he hopes many supporters not switched on enough to know it’s gone to SC and just grasp at the confirmatory bias. Did you?

Ethniciodo Rodenydo
Ethniciodo Rodenydo
10 days ago
Reply to  j watson

And you of course were listening in on the conversation

Dianne Bean
Dianne Bean
9 days ago
Reply to  j watson

The SC said it had to go through the lower court appeal process first, because he wasn’t given a sentence otherwise they would have taken it now.

Dianne Bean
Dianne Bean
9 days ago

Yea it will be appealed but in the meantime they get to have the felon attached to his name which is their dream come true. The judge should be in jail.

Graham Cunningham
Graham Cunningham
10 days ago

So it would seem that – in parts of the Progressive groupthinking classes – Trump Derangement Syndrome has mutated into Always Thought Trump Had a Point Syndrome. Who would have guessed! It’s reminiscent of another feature of the Progressive/Woke mentality that some wags have identified as ‘This Didn’t Happen and it’s Good That it Has’ cognitive dissonance….a civilisation-destroying abandonment of reality that I discuss at length in this essay: https://grahamcunningham.substack.com/p/the-madness-of-intelligentsias

Cantab Man
Cantab Man
10 days ago

From eight years of:

‘Trump is literally a Russian Spy! And Hit|er! And an Evi| Capitalist! Treat anyone who doesn’t agree with us like Russian Naz| Capitalist enemies! Monitor, de-bank and fire them!’

To:

‘Trump ain’t so bad – a good egg really. What’s that? Innocent people were hurt because of me? Nah, must’ve been Bob over there … good ol’ Bob sometimes gets cranky. Definitely wasn’t me.’

People with integrity? I think not.

Chris Whybrow
Chris Whybrow
10 days ago

Regardless of Trump’s person, it seems somewhat of an oversight that the president not only has immunity from prosecution, but the power to unilaterally pardon criminals. I don’t think either of these contribute much to American democracy.

j watson
j watson
10 days ago
Reply to  Chris Whybrow

It’s heck of a stretch on what the Founding Fathers would have wanted. It’ll get changed but not now. America needs to grasp the consequences a bit more first, which it will.

Tony Buck
Tony Buck
10 days ago
Reply to  j watson

Well, after Joe pardoned Hunter…

j watson
j watson
10 days ago
Reply to  Tony Buck

That too.

j watson
j watson
10 days ago

The resistance ended? You wish.
But the irony is it’s going to start coming from a chunk of MAGA too as they grasp it’s a corrupt Billionaires Club they helped elect.

Tony Buck
Tony Buck
10 days ago
Reply to  j watson

As are the only alternatives.

For surely you’re not pretending that the Democrats or RINO’s are honest people ?

j watson
j watson
10 days ago
Reply to  Tony Buck

No large elements of the Democrats lost their moorings too. The changes in campaign financing have damaged both Parties and they are now owned by the Billionaires. That said if one had to choose I wouldn’t have gone for the arch Grifter. Was v obvious he was lying about how he’d really help the left behinds and little guy and now we enter a period of chaos and corruption.

UnHerd Reader
UnHerd Reader
9 days ago
Reply to  j watson

Not a chance … the witch hunt is over … for him at least … now it’s the utterly corrupt DEMs turn lol

Tony Price
Tony Price
10 days ago

a well-funded cabal of powerful people, ranging across industries and ideologies, working together behind the scenes to influence perceptions, change rules and laws, steer media coverage and control the flow of information.” – seems a fair description of what just happened in the 2024 election – by Trump supporters.

Tony Buck
Tony Buck
10 days ago
Reply to  Tony Price

It isn’t a remotely fair description of the 2024 election.

UnHerd Reader
UnHerd Reader
9 days ago
Reply to  Tony Price

The Dems were doing that throughout … only no one believes them anymore. And no one watches MSM propaganda anymore … Wokist DEI is dead … or will be soon … be grateful!

UnHerd Reader
UnHerd Reader
9 days ago

He isn’t even in yet but he and his team are making our world better … DEI will indeed die and the woke mind virus will finally be pushed off a cliff.

Elons doing a great job of holding our spineless, self serving stuffed suits to account and even sticking up for TR while ignoring our elite parasites (and MSMs) deeply unfair demonisation of him. (This includes you too Farage)

The legacy press is dead. So are Liebour … illegal migrants will be remigrated etc etc … Trump will show us what’s possible with a will to do it and our beleaguered western world will finally begin to heal.

Good luck Mr President.