It's finally here: Donald Trump's mug shot. The former president and lifelong criminal finally got the moment he's no doubt been expecting all his life. He was booked at the Fulton County jail on Thursday, in a RICO case filed by District Attorney Fani Willis that describes him as the leader of a "criminal enterprise" that tried to steal Georgia's 2020 presidential election.
For most people, being arrested on organized crime charges would be a low moment, but Trump and his alleged co-conspirators are leaning into it. They've all tried to strike poses meant to be menacing or carefree in their mug shots, and have celebrated their walks of shame on social media. Sadly, this makes sense. As I've written before, MAGA leaders self-consciously identify as villains, from the way they dress to the bad-guy rhetoric they employ. Trump's "I am your retribution" speech, for instance, gave of strong "wishes he were Tom Hardy playing Bane in a Batman movie" vibes. The Georgia 19 are, for the most part, pampered country-club types, but play-acting as fictitious master criminals is an excellent chance to fundraise by burnishing their malevolent image with the MAGA faithful.
