(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
There’s a colorable argument that Donald Trump’s speech before his followers launched a violent assault on the U.S. Capitol didn’t cross the legal threshold required to hold him criminally liable for inciting a riot. Others disagree and see this as a clear breach. There’s a very smart argument that even if this doesn’t superficially cross the line, it constitutes incitement because the law’s reliance on “immanence” is anachronistic in a world of social media. In any event, there’s no credible argument that criminal liability is a prerequisite for an impeachment and conviction unless you’re a shameless hack.
But Rudy Giuliani’s words that day blew past the incitement standard and spiked the ball in the Brandenburg endzone by telling the rowdy mob that the time had come for “trial by combat” with Democratic legislators and election officials.
Thankfully, Rudy has an answer for anyone who thought he was calling for violence when he explicitly called for violence: blame “Game of Thrones.”
“I was referencing the kind of trial that took place for Tyrion in that very famous documentary about fictitious medieval England,” Giuliani told Samuels. “When Tyrion, who is a very small man, is accused of murder. He didn’t commit murder, he can’t defend himself, and he hires a champion to defend him.”
George R.R. Martin has said his work is inspired by the War of the Roses, but it’s a bit of a stretch to call it a dramatized documentary of medieval England, no matter how many dragons Richard Plantagenet raised. Does Rudy not understand or grasp what was happening in Game of Thrones? And I get that no one understood what was happening in season 8. The sexposition was pretty clear. And if he did watch the show, what character does he think he’s working for right now other than Joffrey? Is Rudy Cersei in this analogy? Siblings are a little different than screwing your cousin for years, but it’s in the ballpark.
Though Rudy has stumbled into a point: “Game of Thrones” has embarrassingly reintroduced Americans to the concept of trial by combat and they’re asking for it as if it’s not the historical and intellectual equivalent of using the ordeal by water to root out witchcraft. It’s still technically on the books in New York, prompting a fantasy and sci-fi loving attorney to ask for it. The judge declined, and the lawyer later ended up in prison for a kidnapping plot, a sign of how this fetishization of primitive violence can spill over. Knock it off, people.
Not that this defense does all that much for Rudy’s cause. Giuliani is saying, “if you don’t think the legal system is working for you, hire someone to violently lash out and kill folks on your behalf,” which seems like… exactly what happened later that day. Almost like there’s a direct line from Giuliani’s speech to a dead Capitol Police officer.
Imagine how much better off we’d be if Rudy had just binged Sex and the City instead.
He’s such a Samantha.
Rudy Giuliani says his ‘trial by combat’ comment during Trump’s January 6 rally was a ‘Game of Thrones’ reference, not a call to violence [Business Insider]
The Confederacy Finally Stormed the Capitol [The Nation]
Incitement, Imminence, and Free Speech: The Internet is a Game Changer [Dorf on Law]
Earlier: Judge Admits Trial By Combat Is Available In New York… Then Declines To Order
Trial By Combat Attorney Going To Need Those Fighting Skills In PrisonIt
Rudy Giuliani Challenges Antifa To Fight Him Mano-a-Mano
Alan Dershowitz Willing To Defend Donald Trump Again, Shocking Absolutely No One
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.
