Expert surprised Americans not outraged over Trump indictment
MIAMI - How big a deal is Trump's indictment for the country? How does it stack up against other American historical turning points? CBS News Miami asked Dr. Donald Spivey an American author, Historian and distinguished professor at the University of Miami, who specializes in US history.
Spivey told us, "I don't think that it will stack up till the president goes to jail, if that happens. I think people now see this as entertainment. It is just part of something on TV."
He worries that even though Americans might have opinions about the former president, they are not "engaged." Certainly not "unified."
"Don't people feel some sort of outrage? I don't see it, maybe you see it. I go into the street people I see people doing business as usual, president indicted, former president indicted, business as usual."
Some members of the national media have described the indictment of the former president as one of the gravest challenges to democracy the country has ever faced but according to Dr. Spivey, "For the average American, I am not sure they are engaged. I think they are much more concerned with their video games, what's on TV. Maybe, I am wrong. Hope I am wrong."
As far as reaction to a former American president charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice, false statements, and retention of national defense information, Spivy's opinion is Americans should be unified in outrage, but as a whole, they are not.
"I mean how does this nation live with itself? Should we be concerned? I think so, Spivey told CBS NewsMiami.
Spivery says that unlike other major events in recent history that brought the county together like the Kennedy assassination, the 9/11 attack, the long and winding Trump saga has not unified America. It has split the USA.