As anyone who listens to him can attest, Donald Trump may be the most self-pitying person on planet Earth. Pretty much all the man does is whine and cry about how he's the victim of an imaginary "witch hunt." In reality, his list of transgressions is staggering. If he were any other person, he would have been sentenced to prison many times over with no real hope of release: Sexual assault. Decades of fraud. Attempted extortation of a foreign leader. Stealing classified documents. Flagrant acceptance of what very much looks like bribes. Attempting to overthrow democracy. Inciting a violent riot that got people killed. I'm sure readers can list a dozen more, but let's get to the point: It's absolutely bananas that Trump isn't in prison yet.
The concept of "privilege" is treated with great skepticism in conservative circles, and regarded by MAGA types like a made-up hoax. But no one alive proves the truth of the concept more than Donald Trump. He's proudly ignorant. The only talent he bothered to learn is cheating the system so that you "win" without ever having to be good at stuff. The only real skill he's developed in his 77 years is utter shamelessness, and frankly, it seems that might be more of a genetic defect than anything he's worked at. The man can't even bother to get good at golf, a sport he does seem to like, because he prefers to lie about it instead.
And yet, simply because he was born a white guy with inherited wealth, the world conspires to endlessly provide Trump with all the breaks. Not only is this spoiled brat shielded from the consequences of his actions, but his privilege continues to catapult him into a world of luxury and flattery, even as all he does is leave a trail of ruin in his wake.
The latest "are you kidding me" example: On Monday, right before Trump finally got the tiniest taste of the justice he deserves for committing decades of criminal fraud in New York, he got bailed out by the state's appeals court. The judgment against Trump was nearly half a billion, due to a court case that demonstrated he wouldn't have two nickels to rub together but for his lifetime of fraud. In order to appeal the case, Trump had to first put up the full amount as a bond, which is standard. So Trump went on Truth Social to petulantly claim he had $500 million in cash (even though his legal filings said otherwise). Then in a stunningly undeserved act of mercy, the appeals court reduced the amount of his bond to $175 million and gave Trump 10 more days to find a benefactor to pay it for him.
Once again, Trump gets bailed out by people he would happily feed to a pack of ravenous wolves for a penny. The unfairness of it is staggering. He's not repentant. On the contrary, Trump famously spent the entire trial throwing childish tantrums in court, outraged at the very idea that he should be treated like ordinary people, who tend to face punishment when caught committing crimes. He was already let off easy for that, as well. Most people who make scenes and unsubtly threaten court staff would find themselves cooling off in jail for contempt, but the judge backed off in the face of the force field of rich white boy protection that has surrounded Trump his whole life.
Trump's entire life has been defined by the willingness of other people to coddle the rich white boy. Right now, that's manifesting in legal leniency, as most prosecutors and judges have hesitated to show Trump even 1/100th of the justice that would face anyone else who acts like him. This is most obvious, of course, when looking at the attempted coup and the Capitol riot. Over 1,200 people have faced federal charges for Jan. 6, but Attorney General Merrick Garland dragged his feet for years on charging Trump. Yes, Garland eventually hired special prosecutor Jack Smith, and he brought charges, but it's looking like it's way too late to get the trial done by the election.
Even before Trump enjoyed first-class treatment from the justice system, he enjoyed a series of benefactors who wanted to keep him in a rich man's lifestyle, for no reason that makes sense to normal human beings. First, of course, was his own father, who fed his worthless offspring about half a billion dollars over the years, even as Donald Trump wasted it all on bad business deals. After his father died, Trump got a new sugar daddy, in the form of NBC producer Mark Burnett. Even though Trump was a failed businessman with multiple bankruptcies under his belt, Burnett tapped him to host "The Apprentice," a reality show built on the deeply false premise that Trump has business acumen. Through the show, Burnett funneled another half-billion to Trump, which Trump promptly lost on more bad investments. Soon, Trump's debts dramatically mounted, estimated to be up to a billion dollars. Bankers, like the elder Trump and Burnett, just love giving this guy money so he can keep pretending he's a "success" without ever having to be one.
Just this week, we saw another example: Billionaires and other rich investors are buying up Truth Social for ungodly billions, in a deal that will make a a fortune for Trump. The site is tiny compared to social media networks valued at much less than that, and it's widely believed that this "investment" will show no real returns. But Trump is a black hole that other rich people love to pour money into.
One of the great mysteries of our time, and likely to history, is why the MAGA masses fall for Trump's claims to be a victim when he is the most coddled person alive. Yes, most of them have their share of unearned privilege, being mostly white people, and share Trump's enthusiasm for self-pity every time those privileges are questioned. But ultimately, most of them only have a taste of what Trump enjoys. Most are well aware, for instance, that if they don't pay their bills, they could lose their house or their car or their job. Most don't have an endless series of fairy godfathers ready to bail them out of every bad decision they make. Most know that if they get fined by a court, they can't get out of it simply by whining a lot.
And yet, MAGA people pity a man with a private jet because he might have to give up a golf course or two. Indeed, the MAGA masses are yet another group of people rescuing Trump from himself. Whether or not he can pay his legal bills out of pocket, he doesn't have to. The little guys are paying it for him, emptying out their retirement accounts to donate money to Trump's "campaign," which is largely devoted to funding his legal defense. He's somehow managed to convince them he's the victim, even though no one else could ever get away with so much without having to pay so little for it.
As infuriating as this is, there are some tendrils of hope that Trump's seemingly infinite well of impunity may be starting to sputter. As New York Attorney General Letitia James pointed out, this is only about the bond. If Trump loses on appeal, he still owes the "$464 million judgment – plus interest." And she has already proved that she can beat him in court. On the same day, Trump got the reprieve on the bond, he lost another court battle, as Judge Juan Merchan rejected efforts to delay Trump's criminal fraud trial any longer, setting the trial start date for April 15.
Trump's privilege is a social construct, not a law of nature. All it takes is a willingness to buck the pressure to give him the red carpet treatment. Hell, you don't even have to treat him fairly. As the original fraud trial showed, even when Trump is given lots of handicaps and perks, his guilt is so immense that it overwhelms his protective bubble. But it clearly takes courage to hold the line against this baffling assumption that Trump should be able to do whatever he wants. Too bad this appeals court didn't have the spine, but there are still plenty of people in the mix who aren't getting wobbly.
