MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell couldn’t hold back his praise for Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg after successfully prosecuting Donald Trump, calling the prosecutor “the anointed one.”
Bragg led the prosecution when the former president was found guilty of all 34 crimes on Thursday after a very brief deliberation.. He will be sentenced on July 11.
O’Donnell – a former congressional speechwriter before his move to television – was effusive in his praise for Bragg.
He referred a 1995 op-ed written in the Harvard Crimson who called Bragg – then a student and leader of the Harvard Black Students Association – “the anointed one.”
“That’s the right title,” explained O’Donnell, a former writer for The West Wing. “That’s who this guy is.”
MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell couldn’t contain his praise for Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg after he successfully prosecuted Donald Trump, calling him ‘the anointed one’
He continued, “The people of Manhattan who elected him, that’s what they saw. They saw someone who does this work with great dedication, and who does it flawlessly and with such deep humility.’
“In a Trump-era country that desperately needs lessons in modesty, Alvin Bragg is that lesson.”
Fellow liberal MSNBC host Rachel Maddow agreed with O’Donnell.
“You know, Lawrence, it’s such a good point that at this moment, when it’s remembered in history, yes, the crimes will be part of history, the criminals will absolutely be part of history,” she said .
“But the people who were brave enough to push this through the criminal justice system, despite all the threats they faced to do it, and against all odds and against the most powerful people in the country, some of the most powerful people in the world world to do it.’
The Harvard Crimson op-ed praised an event Bragg organized in 1992, a speech by Professor Leonard Jeffries of the City University of New York.
Bragg managed to defuse tensions between black and Jewish students over the speech, which was protested by many over accusations that Jeffries was anti-Semitic, an accusation that one black student called “bulls***.”
The op-ed praised Bragg as having “a rare ability to reconcile diverse people and clashing views.”
Bragg led the prosecution when the former president was found guilty of all 34 crimes on Thursday after a very brief deliberation.
Trump will be sentenced on July 11 for his 34 felony convictions
The Crimson argued, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, “The Harvard senior himself says he probably won’t run for office. But whatever he ends up doing, there’s clearly an anointed feeling about him today.”
Today, Bragg is considered one of the leaders of a new “progressive DA” movement, one of many funded by left-wing billionaire George Soros.
In February, it was revealed that Bragg had downgraded as many as 60 percent of misdemeanor cases to lesser charges over the past year, according to data from his office.
The prosecutor reduced 938 of the most serious charges in 2023, 834 of which were misdemeanors.
Under Bragg, the percentage of downgraded crimes has increased to 60, compared to 53 percent under his predecessor.
Bragg’s team defended the numbers, saying the agency’s performance is comparable to other New York boroughs and higher when it comes to felony convictions.
Bragg, who campaigned on the promise of criminal justice reform, released a controversial “Day One” memo after taking office stating that he would seek prison time only in the most serious cases.
It comes amid anger over criminals being allowed to roam the streets of the Big Apple, which continues to be rocked by a wave of violent crime.
O’Donnell was referring to a 1995 op-ed written in the Harvard Crimson that called Bragg — then a student and a leader in the Harvard Black Students Association — “the anointed one.”
Of the 938 crimes downgraded in 2023, 834 were reduced to felonies
Since being sworn in on January 1, 2022, the district attorney has also declined to prosecute 14 percent of all arrests, compared to just nine percent in 2021, when his predecessor was last in office.
However, the total number of arrests screened by his office was up by more than a third compared to 2021.
But this will provide little comfort to victims of the most serious crimes, as data shows Bragg’s office has been convicted of a crime only 52 percent of the time, down from 65 percent in 2021.
Bragg has been criticized for his soft-on-crime policies, including calling on prosecutors to drop armed robbery charges and instead charge suspects with petty theft and not seek prison sentences for criminals.
Crime in New York City is down 0.032 percent since before the pandemic, but the decline is not enough for many who feel unsafe in Manhattan.
MAGA agents have accused Bragg of having a political agenda.
‘Alvin Bragg is a disgrace. He believes it is more important to target Joe Biden’s political opponent than to protect New Yorkers from rapists, murderers and robbers.” That’s according to Alex Pfeiffer, spokesperson for Make America Great Again Inc.
Meanwhile, crime victims have also expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of justice.
Bragg, who campaigned on the promise of criminal justice reform, said he would only seek prison sentences for the most serious crimes
The progressive prosecutor was sworn in on January 1, 2022, but was criticized for his ‘soft on crime’ approach
A spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Office said Manhattan is leading the citywide decline in crime, pointing to a 38 percent drop in homicides and a 24 percent drop in shootings during his first two years in office .
“Manhattan’s felony conviction rate is higher than the other four boroughs, and the rate of misdemeanor crimes that go unprosecuted is lower than the city average,” he said.
“We are getting results with our comprehensive crime strategy that includes increasing gun prosecutions, targeting the drivers of violent crime and making investments that prevent crime and build strong neighborhoods.”