Amid the noisy barrage of charges against Trump, the overriding reality is inescapable: the current president and his party are trying to send his likely political opponent to jail. This should not happen in a democratic republic. The recent petition by federal prosecutor Jack Smith to the Supreme Court, asking to accelerate the appeals proceedings against Trump, shows how justice has been distorted for political ends. The only reason Smith wants to rush the process is so he can put Trump on trial, and imprison him, before the November 2024 election.

Last week, the Supreme Court of Colorado made the goal of these legal cases explicit when it ruled that Trump should be disqualified from holding office. Four judges, all appointed by Democrats, decreed that Trump cannot appear on the ballot paper in the upcoming Republican primary in Colorado. The judgement made unprecedented use of a Civil War-era statute that was designed to keep unrepentant Confederates from high office.

Time and again, Democrats accuse Trump of being an authoritarian threat to democracy, only to then show the world how it’s really done. They are the ones destroying democracy, even as they purport to be saving it.