Presidential conventions are a showcase for the candidates and what they’re all about: Their direction, their goals, their character.
So the appearance of “reality” TV star Savannah Chrisley at the GOP convention told us a lot. She came to serve up a heaping dollop of grievance and victimization.
For years, conservatives complained about libs whining about how they’ve been wronged. It was “politics of victimization,” that being oppressed somehow gave you credence, social power or even a cudgel. The GOP has since embraced that strategy.
Savannah’s parents are Todd and Julie Chrisley, who for a decade starred with their family in the show “Chrisley Knows Best.” It was about the antics of a millionaire real estate entrepreneur and his brood, although the whole enterprise collapsed when the parents went to prison on convictions of massive bank fraud and income tax evasion.
Like $36 million of bank fraud — of living high on other people’s money. Todd & Co. needed the loot because his lifestyle was beyond extravagant. The dude had a 30,000-square-foot house and used to fly L.A. for haircuts, probably because he figured he couldn’t get a good barber in Atlanta.
Todd was sentenced to 12 years, his wife to seven.
Daughter Savannah spoke at the convention Tuesday on “Make America Safe Again” night. The GOP platform aims to tamp down a National Crimewave. Reality says crime numbers have dropped drastically since the 1990s, bumped up during the pandemic and are trending down again or are flat.
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Polls show Democrats and Republicans both want government to reduce crime, although the latter are more vocal.
Into that backdrop, you have Savannah being asked to show up and complain that prosecutors have been very mean and are targeting conservatives and Christians.
“My family was persecuted by rogue prosecutors in Fulton County due to our public profile and conservative beliefs,” she said to cascades of boos.
Remember, Donald Trump got indicted in Fulton. And that’s where they “found” the “suitcases full of ballots” at the election center. That has been completely disproved.
But nowadays, we all can have our own “truths.”
“I know! Fulton County!” Savannah said. “They know how to do it, don’t they?”
She continued: “I’ll never forget what the prosecutor said in the most heavily Democrat county in the state, before an Obama-appointed judge; he called us ‘the Trumps of the South.’ "
More boos.
“He meant it as an insult,” she said. “But let me tell you: Boy, do I wear it as a badge of honor.”
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
Let me pause here to sprinkle some reality.
First, the Chrisleys were indicted by federal prosecutors, not Fulton. The feds at the time were led by U.S. Attorney BJay Pak, a Trump appointee and former GOP legislator. Federal juries in Atlanta’s court pull from a wider geographical area and are more conservative than Fulton’s.
Also, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a very non-liberal entity, upheld the Chrisleys’ convictions but said Mrs. C. should get resentenced.
But what stuck with me was the so-called prosecutorial taunt — “The Trumps of the South.”
My BS Detector, honed through decades of use, beeped incessantly when hearing that one.
First, prosecutors don’t know the political leanings of jurors, so they wouldn’t risk alienating one to get in a cheap shot.
I called around. Reporters who covered the trial don’t remember hearing it. If they did, it would have ended up in their copy.
“I don’t believe it was said,” Chrisley defense attorney Bruce Morris told me, adding, “I would have likely objected.”
An appeals lawyer didn’t see any hint of it while combing through the transcripts.
Credit: Curtis Compton
Credit: Curtis Compton
And Pak, who had left office by the time of the 2022 trial, said that line seemed far-fetched. He did some sleuthing and told me, “It didn’t happen. I know the prosecutors. I’d be surprised if they did something like this.”
Pak, who’d never seen the Chrisleys’ show before his office indicted them, was surprised his party called Savannah to speak at the convention.
“I don’t see any upside to that,” he said.
I do. First, the crowd gets to see another “victimized” conservative. Second, there’s an upside for the Chrisleys — you’ve got to figure they’re hoping to get a pardon in exchange for their daughter’s performance. If Trump wins, that is.
And one more thing:
In April, Savannah complained to Atlanta reporters about her parents’ prison conditions. “Black mold, asbestos, lead-based paint, unclean drinking water,” she said, as well as “maggots in the food. And there’s sexual abuse.”
Last year, The New York Post ran a story about the minimum-security facility in Pensacola, Florida, where Poppa Chrisley resides.
It’s headlined: “Todd Chrisley serving his time in one of America’s cushiest prisons.”
Perks, according to the story, include racquetball, volleyball, horseshoes, email, movie night and Sudoku puzzles.
That, for once, is the reality.
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