Today on The Editors, Rich asked Michael Brendan Dougherty for his thoughts on Trump’s reelection campaign in light of his recent court appearance. Dougherty was adamant that “a man under this many indictments, criminal indictments for felonies, should not be running for president, should not be the front-runner. And the president and his Justice Department and partisan . . . attorneys general around the country should not be hounding him . . . trying to get him on the most ticky-tack stuff.”

Dougherty warned that “this is a very dangerous moment. And I . . . just severely doubt that we’re going to march along through 2024 like a normal presidential election where it’s just the votes that count. I think all of this lawfare, subterfuge, and then political framing of it is going to be crucially important.”

What does this mean for the country as a whole? Dougherty’s outlook was grim: “This is the road toward . . . Latin American banana republic if we keep going down it, which we seem determined to do.”

The Editors podcast is recorded on Tuesdays and Fridays every week and is available wherever you listen to podcasts.