Just a couple of hours after Donald Trump’s latest criminal indictment was unsealed, NBC News reported that the former president and those in his orbit were effectively “shrugging off” the felony charges. “Obviously we were expecting it, so it was not a shock, and it enabled the president to be prepared for it,” one Trump adviser said.
The same report concluded with a quote that stood out for me.
“Politically, it is way better for Trump to have three or four indictments instead of one,” a Trump ally said. “When it’s one, all of the focus is on the details of that single case. When there are multiple, the specific details get lost to the wider narrative.” … “It makes it way easier to make the case that it’s a witch hunt when it is more than one case,” they added.
And that brought to mind a classic scene from an episode of “The Simpsons.”
It’s hard to believe this aired nearly a quarter of a century ago, but in January 2000, viewers saw an episode in which Mr. Burns went to the Mayo Clinic for a check-up. He assumed he was in perfect health, but his doctor quickly told him otherwise.
“I’m afraid you are the sickest man in the United States,” the physician told the patient. “You have everything,” including “several diseases that have just been discovered” by virtue of the exam.
“This sounds like bad news,” Mr. Burns responded. The doctor disagreed. “Well, you’d think so, but all of your diseases are in perfect balance,” he said.
It was at that point that viewers were introduced to something the doctor called the “Three Stooges Syndrome.” While showing the patient a model doorway, the physician said, “Here’s the door to your body, and these are oversized novelty germs.” He explained that if Mr. Burns only had one disease, it would simply enter his body and do him harm, but because he has every disease trying to inflict him simultaneously, they get crammed up at the doorway — just like Larry, Curly, and Moe — making it impossible for anyone ailment to break through.
This, of course, led Mr. Burns to describe himself as “indestructible,” and when his doctor tried to explain otherwise, the patient left.
Nearly eight years ago, the estimable Dave Weigel — at the time at The Washington Post, now at Semafor — wrote a memorable analysis, explaining the degree to which the “Three Stooges Syndrome” could be applied to politics. Weigel was referring at the time to the crowded field of non-Trump Republican presidential candidates, but eight years later, the same idea returned to the fore.
Indeed, it’s surprisingly useful. Trump is convinced he’s the most virtuous man in the country, but prosecutors have effectively told him, “I’m afraid you are the most corrupt man in the United States.”
So why hasn’t this destroyed him, politically? If he only had one scandal, it’d get through the doorway, but because the former president is at the center of so many scandals, they — you guessed it — get crammed up at the doorway.
Or as NBC News’ source put it, “When it’s one [indictment], all of the focus is on the details of that single case. When there are multiple, the specific details get lost to the wider narrative.”
What’s more, I’m not convinced this is wrong.
Three indictments, and counting, pose profound risks to Trump’s legal, financial, and personal future, and if he hopes to avoid devastating convictions and sentences, he’ll have to spend heavily on competent defense counsel. But solely from a raw political perspective, is it really that outlandish to think there are segments of the electorate, especially on the right, that fail to appreciate the severity of the criminal allegations surrounding Trump because he’s been accused of so many felonies?
It shouldn’t be this way, and I’d prefer that engaged voters pay attention to highly relevant details, but the assessment from the Trump ally likely reflects an unfortunate political dynamic that exists, whether I like it or not.
