Trump indictment underscores gaping US political divide

WASHINGTON, April 2 — A necessary step for some, a “witch hunt” for others: the historic indictment of Donald Trump has further entrenched perceptions that partisanship has cleaved the United States, with the former president at the centre of the storm. The Republican billionaire’s presidency — as well as his rhetoric since losing the 2020 election to Joe Biden — both underscored and amplified the country’s political divisions, and reactions to him becoming the first US president charged with a crime have followed that playbook closely. “The public today sees almost everything through the lens of partisanship,” said Wendy Schiller,…