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Donald Trump’s guilty verdict in New York sent shockwaves through the nation’s capital last Friday, stirring up quite the tempest on PBS NewsHour. New York Times’ David Brooks and Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart, put their heads together in a recital of present concerns that the ex-President’s conviction has served as an ‘all-out assault’ on American institutions, an assertion, quite frankly, requiring some scrutiny.

Brooks stood up to speak, flouting his pedigreed career transiting the stables of many a top conservative institution. Reminding us of his stalwart views during ‘the before times,’ Brooks indeed tried to leverage memories of an era when conservatives would eagerly concede when the gavel hit the block. He attacked the moral issues embedded within the case, but shifted the focus to institutions under apparent assault.

While the jury’s importance was extolled, worry lines came from the yet-to-come consequences of Trump’s potential win in the fall. A melancholic Brooks hinted at a panicked rampaging of the justice system, the Defense Department, even the attorney general’s office. His only solace being the belief that yesterday the institutions, threatened as they were, had girded their loins and held the line.

Later, as the conversation flowed, Brooks finally conceded that despite the leanings of his previous employers, his conservative bend still had him well-rooted within PBS. Discussing the vociferous reaction rippling across the majority of Republicans, he found the wave more alarming than expected, covering everyone from moderate Maine Republican Susan Collins to the staunchest right-wing supporters.

The discussion spiraled towards Speaker Mike Johnson and his reproach of the case that echoed right through the Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell’s bones. In a turn of events, Capehart viewed the rallying of Republicans as dangerously close to being as explosive as Trump’s address from the Trump Tower. His critique targeted an apparent paradox between ‘before times’ Republican views and current responses which he found harrowing.

Finally, reaching a crescendo in the conversation, Brooks once again highlighted the importance of taking the jury system seriously, admitting his own doubts about an elected Democrat prosecutor gunning for Trump in New York. He rounded off his argument re-emphasizing respect for the jury’s verdict, regardless of political affiliations or muscle moves made by anyone, the ex-President included.

In rewinding Friday’s recollections, American readers must remain vigilant in questioning the political and moral motivations of both the media and the judiciary. As we tend to the fallout of another seismic shift in our national narrative, we must ensure our Constitution remains our GPS, upholding the tenets of justice and democracy that bind this great nation together.

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