The unavoidable flaws in Kevin McCarthy’s ‘equal justice’ rhetoric – By Steve Benen (MSNBC) / Mar 21 2023
The more the House speaker tries to defend Trump with talk about “equal justice,” the more Kevin McCarthy invites some uncomfortable follow-up questions.
Just a few hours after Donald Trump saw some media reports and predicted his arrest, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy went to work on the former president’s behalf. The California Republican not only scrambled to defend Trump, the speaker also lashed out at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and directed House committee chairs to investigate the work of the local prosecutor. (The chairs complied yesterday.)
But McCarthy has also responded to the hush money scandal by pointing to an ostensibly principled position about the justice system in general.
“We’re not coming here to defend President Trump, we’re coming to defend equal justice,” the GOP leader told reporters this morning. After complaining about — who else? — Hillary Clinton and a campaign finance fine from the 2016 cycle, McCarthy again said: “We live in America and it should be equal justice.”
The House speaker pushed a similar line on Twitter yesterday:
“It doesn’t matter if it’s President Trump or a Democrat. Our justice system should not be used to target political opponents. Period.”
