On Tuesday, former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felonies in New York, after becoming the first U.S. president ordered to appear in criminal court.
Some Trump supporters have characterized Trump’s trial as politically motivated, and they’ve compared it to similar proceedings in politically unstable nations.
In fact, some members of the international community have voiced the same concerns about the trial’s effect on our nation’s long-term stability… and they’ve become unlikely allies of Donald Trump.
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Mexico’s president said Wednesday he opposes the criminal charges filed against Trump, suggesting they were brought for political reasons during an electoral campaign.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the charges filed in New York against Trump, who is campaigning to regain the presidency in the 2024 election, represented “the degradation of due respect for the law.”
“I don’t agree with what they are doing to former President Trump,” López Obrador said at his morning news briefing. “I do not know if crimes were committed, it’s not my place.”
“Supposedly legal, judicial issues should not be used for political, electoral purposes,” the leader continued. “Don’t make up crimes to affect adversaries.”
While in office, López Obrador enjoyed a surprisingly warm relationship with Trump, despite the media’s endless coverage of Trump’s early comments about Mexico.
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In fact, López Obrador had fewer public disagreements with Trump than with current President Joe Biden.
Take a look —
President López Obrador of Mexico responds to Trump's shoutout: "Well- he's a capitalist, and he's not perfect, but he's a good person and I respect him." pic.twitter.com/rh7L3cpsk4
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) November 17, 2022
"Reitero, refrendo, mantengo mi postura: No debe utilizarse lo jurídico (…) con propósitos políticos-electorales. Por eso no estoy de acuerdo con lo que le están haciendo al expresidente Trump. No estoy de acuerdo", dijo el presidente López Obrador en defensa de su amigo 'Trun' pic.twitter.com/s71hoA6odj
— Joaquín López-Dóriga (@lopezdoriga) April 5, 2023
Domestic figures — like Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas — have compared Trump’s trial to the proceedings of a “3rd world dictatorship.”
“Democrats want to arrest & imprison ANYONE who opposes their corrupt regime,” Jackson tweeted Tuesday.
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Of all the leaders convicted in the International Criminal Court, a disproportionate number of them have hailed from African nations with weak state power, and they often faced prosecution at the hands of their immediate successors.
Some Democrats have defended the Trump trial by pointing to similar examples from developed nations, like France. In 2021, Nicolas Sarkozy — France’s former president — was convicted of corruption nine years after leaving office.
Republicans have responded by pointing out the lack of domestic examples.
“We’re not Greek. We’re Americans, and this is the American experiment,” Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears, R-Va., said on HBO last month.
The Horn editorial team and the Associated Press contributed to this article.