Former President Donald Trump and the mainstream media, despite being frequent adversaries, have found themselves in agreement about this: Trump's criminal trial in Washington, D.C., ought to be televised.
We have known the mainstream media's position on this issue for some time now. They have made it clear, virtually from the get-go, that they want the trial to be televised.
In October, in fact, several mainstream media outlets submitted a brief to the judge overseeing the D.C. case - Judge Tanya Chutkan - asking her to allow the trial to be televised.
But, Trump's position on this issue, up until recently, has been more unclear.
A little over a week ago, special counsel Jack Smith - the man leading the criminal prosecution of Trump on behalf of the federal government - submitted a court filing in which he made it clear that he does not want Trump's trial to be televised.
After that, Trump's lawyer, John Lauro, put out a statement, saying, "I, personally, would love to see that."
He added, "I’m convinced the Biden administration does not want the American people to see the truth. And they acted on it by filing this protective order, which is an effort to keep important information about this case from the press."
Lauro's comment, here, suggested that he and Trump would move to have Chutkan allow cameras in the courtroom.
This is what they have now done.
On Friday, Trump and his legal team submitted a court filing asking Chutkan to allow cameras in the courtroom.
Trump, in a recent statement on the matter, said, "I want this trial to be seen by everybody in the world. The prosecution wishes to continue this travesty in darkness and I want sunlight."
This means that Trump and the mainstream media are now allies - although, it is clear that the mainstream media is trying to hide this fact to the best of their ability.
The Associated Press, for example, reports:
Federal court rules prohibit broadcasting proceedings, but The Associated Press and other news organizations say the unprecedented case of a former president standing trial on accusations that he tried to subvert the will of voters warrants making an exception.
Despite the unlikely alliance, the chances are that Chutkan - who has been shown to have deep Democrat ties - will not allow cameras in her courtroom. As Trump put it, the Democrats want to see these cases proceed in the "darkness," not only to control the narrative but to hide from Americans what they are really up to - namely, trying to end Trump's 2024 campaign.
