The presumption of innocence applies to everyone, even Donald Trump

A recent article in Business Insider does much to betray the moral panic that has characterized media coverage of Donald Trump since that fateful day in 2015 when he announced his candidacy.

In his November 13 piece, Trump took a victory lap after a woman who accused him of sexual assault dropped her defamation lawsuit against him, Thomas Colson writes in response to a statement by Trump spokesperson Liz Harrington in the wake of former The Apprentice contestant Summer Zervos having dropped her defamation suit against Trump:

She also claimed, falsely, that the development meant that Trump was “totally vindicated.”

Though Zervos’ allegation is no longer due to be tested in court, the absence of a case does not prove Trump’s innocence.

The trick Colson is playing here is in implying that innocence is something that needs to be proven, when in reality the onus is always on the accuser to prove the defendant’s guilt in the court room. Even if a trial concludes in a defendant’s favor, they’re never proven innocent, but rather they are found not guilty, and continue to be presumed innocent in the eyes of the law. As far as I know, it…