Mary Trump Explains 'Double Standard' in How Donald Trump's Treated

Former President Donald Trump's niece Mary Trump explained the "double standard" in how her uncle is treated amid his legal troubles.

Trump, who served as president from 2017 to 2021, is facing numerous criminal charges and other investigations. He pleaded not guilty to 37 counts earlier this week in relation to the Department of Justice's (DOJ) probe that alleges he improperly stored classified documents, including some related to national security, at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. He has also been charged in a separate case in Manhattan over an alleged hush money payment prosecutors say violated the law and continues facing several investigations into his conduct surrounding the 2020 presidential election.

He and his allies have decried these cases as proof of a "double standard" in the legal system, pointing to the fact that Trump has been charged in the declassified documents case, but that President Joe Biden has not despite classified files being located in his garage. Legal experts note the cases differ in that Biden notified authorities about the documents once they were discovered, while Trump allegedly knew he was in possession of the files and has allegedly been less cooperative throughout the investigation.

Mary Trump, who has frequently voiced criticisms against the former president, responded to the argument that her uncle faces a "double standard" on Twitter on Friday evening.

She acknowledged the double standard between Trump and other individuals accused of committing crimes, but argued that any double standard would benefit the former president.

"Republicans claim that Joe Biden actually indicted Donald himself or Jack Smith and the DoJ did. There's a double standard, they say, and Donald is being treated unfairly. [roll eyes]," she wrote. "The first two are patently false; the third is half-true. There is a double standard. It's always broken in Donald's favor."

The former president's niece also wrote that Trump allies are using this "double standard" argument to "[go] after the institutions we need, as imperfect as they are, to bring American democracy back from the brink."

She elaborated on how the double standard helps Trump in a blog post on Substack.

"There has always been a double-standard for Donald—and it has always been in his favor. Elected Republicans and his followers are reacting to the fact that, for only the second time in his life, Donald is being treated appropriately based on the crimes he's committed. (I'm not going to bother to say allegedly—we know what he did.) And just think about how long it took us to get here," Mary Trump wrote.

Newsweek reached out to Trump's campaign for comment via email.

Her remarks come after Trump's arraignment in Miami on Tuesday, in which he pleaded not guilty to each charge, which includes 31 counts of willful retention of classified documents and one count each of conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document or record, concealing a document in a federal investigation, scheme to conceal, and false statements and representations.

Trump has accused prosecutors of engaging in politically-motivated investigations aimed at weakening his position as he runs in the 2024 presidential election.

As many Republicans rally behind the former president, some have acknowledged that the actions alleged in the indictment would be serious if proven true. For instance, many have raised concerns about an audio recording from July 2021 that allegedly depicts Trump admitting to keeping a Pentagon file related to an attack against a U.S. adversary.

"If this indictment is true, if what it says is actually the case, President Trump was incredibly reckless with our national security," presidential candidate Nikki Haley said during a Fox News interview last week.