With the news of Donald Trump’s latest indictment, this time by the DOJ for alleged mishandling of classified documents and conspiracy to obstruct justice, conservative political figures are expectedly voicing their opinions.

While there are disagreements on the seriousness of the indictment and the evidence at hand, I think just about everyone on the right agrees that the obvious problem with prosecuting Donald Trump at this point is the selectiveness of it. When Hillary Clinton is allowed to walk for committing nearly the same crime (including obstructing the investigation into her private bathroom server), that raises the bar on what should and shouldn’t qualify as prosecutable when it comes to political opponents.

Plain and simple, it is election interference to indict Trump at this point in time, ensuring that the meat of the case is dealt with right in the middle of the 2024 general election season. The DOJ never should have crossed that line.

With that said, emotions are high, and everyone needs to think carefully about how they approach what has transpired. There are political figures out there looking to gin up donations and support who are using the DOJ’s malfeasance as an excuse to goad people who are in a vulnerable spot right now. We’ve seen it happen in the past, and everyone on the right with a voice should be responsible enough to not push for it again.

Unfortunately, Kari Lake, who I’ve had a lot of nice things to say about in the past, has fallen into that trap. I understand the want for political attention, but saying stuff like this is not the right way to get it. The stakes are too high for normal people who might be listening.

See you in Miami on Tuesday! https://t.co/54KKZWhaTf

— Kari Lake (@KariLake) June 10, 2023

I meant what I said.

— Kari Lake (@KariLake) June 10, 2023

Before anyone starts cheering Lake for saying that, understand that she’s not going to be strapped up, protecting Donald Trump on Tuesday. It’s very easy for her to make inflammatory statements during a speech, and yes, what she said is a threat of violence, because her only role in this situation is garnering clout and money from a certain segment of the Republican Party.

If people actually follow through with what she’s saying, she won’t be there to bail them out. She won’t be paying their legal bills. She’ll go on to run for another political office while they rot in prison. I get that people are upset about Trump being indicted, but there still have to be basic lines that are respected. Never mind that her statement is dumb and untrue anyway.

On Tuesday, Trump will be arraigned in Florida. I’m begging people to not fall into the trap of being lured into acts of illegality in response. Doing so is not going to stop the DOJ from prosecuting the former president, but the same DOJ would love to have a new crop of Republicans to go after. Do not play the sucker in that equation.