Truckers talk boycott of NYC

As CNAV noted yesterday, many independent truckers – and at least one truck dispatch company – have called a boycott of New York City in the aftermath of a $355 million verdict against Donald J. Trump in a real-estate fraud case that already is sparking fears of an out-of-control judiciary and Attorney General’s office.

Truckers start to chatter

The chatter among interstate truckers began on Saturday afternoon (February 17). Patty McMurray at The Gateway Pundit posted the first report at 5:20 p.m. EST. She reported that several long-haul truckers signaled that they will refuse loads to New York City, presumably until some court vacates the $355 million verdict. The first such threat came Friday night from a trucker calling himself “Chicago Ray.” Unfortunately the post is now deleted, and Wayback Machine capture failed. Its text read thus:

I’ve been on the radio for over an hour and I’ve talked to at least (10) Truckers who are gonna start refusing loads of Monday for (NYC) …I talked to (3) guys that I work with who texted the boss and told him no (NYC)

Truckers are (95%) Trump… it’ll get overturned on appeal…

Patty McMurray provided a transcript of the embedded video:

I’ve been on the radio talking to drivers for the last hour and fifteen minutes, and I’ve talked to at least ten drivers going the other way. I’m heading down from South Wisconsin. And they’re [other truckers] gonna start refusing loads to New York City, starting on Monday for NYC. I talked to about three guys that I work with who texted the boss and told him they’re not going to New York City.

I don’t know how far across the country this is or how many truckers are gonna start denying loads to go to New York City, but I’ll tell you what—you f**k around and find out!”

Okay? We’re tired of you motherf**kin’ leftists f**king around with Donald Trump.

You know, motherf**kers are starting to get tired of this shit—and our bosses don’t care if we’re denying the loads into New York; we’ll go somewhere else.”

I don’t wish nothin’ on nobody, but what I’m hearing—this is real!

Ya, know—we’ll see. Leave Trump the f**k alone with the bullshit! Alright? You know you ain’t got shit on Trump, so cut the bullshit! He’s gonna win this motherf**ker on appeal, but it’s still—you know how bullshit! It’s election interference.

I hate to say it, but Truckers are for Trump. We’re like 95% – 96% out here—-all Trump. Ain’t no motherf**kers for Biden!

Two more posts from similarly angry truckers dropped later that day.

That last post highlights a lesson the American left would like to ignore. Modern political maps commonly show islands of blue in a sea of red. These represent leftist urban strongholds and rightist rural expanses. But only truckers like Jack Lombard seem to understand what this means. No city is self-sufficient; all rely on deliveries from the countryside. Tellingly, Jack Lombard compared himself and his fellow truckers to European farmers already protesting plans to abandon farming and animal husbandry.

Sunday morning, at 11:15 a.m. EST, Tyler Durden at ZeroHedge filed this update on a possible boycott by truckers. Then five more truckers dropped these six posts:

Yesterday evening the chatter ratcheted up a notch. TikTok user SurvivalJunkie2 reported that a truck dispatch company told him not to expect any loads for New York State.

Jim Hoft at The Gateway Pundit provided a partial transcript:

I just received a call from a company that I was getting a load from, and they just said they don’t have any loads going to New York. So if you’re in New York, you won’t be receiving anything from these drivers…

I don’t know if it’s real, but I know that the companies are now saying that they’re not delivering loads, not just the truckers, it’s the companies. Also, get yourself prepared. New York s**t may hit the fan in the next couple of days.

See also this article in The Western Journal from Sunday morning.

Waiting for effect

As of this posting, even the latest article (from Business Times) mentions only the declaration of a truckers’ boycott, not an actual slowdown of deliveries. However, the New York City Department of Transportation says they already are looking for ways to replace last-mile deliveries with “sustainable” methods. That could give the truckers a direct reason to stay out of New York City.

The truckers have more than Judge Engoron’s verdict to incense them. Some want all “charges dropped.” That could include the “hush money” indictment that Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg brought, and the recent defamation judgment in the E. Jean Carroll case.

In another development, Jonathan Turley wrote a scathing condemnation of the verdict on The Hill.

The size of the damages is grotesque and should shock the conscience of any judge on appeal. Even if the Democrat-appointed judges on the New York Court of Appeals were to ignore the obvious inequity and unfairness, the United States Supreme Court could intervene.

State courts tend to get a significant amount of deference in the interpretation of their own laws. After all, if New York wants to turn Wall Street into a remake of “The Hunger Games,” it has only itself to blame as other businesses flee the state.

The impact on New York business is likely to be dire. New York is already viewed as a hostile business environment, with the top end of its tax base literally heading south as taxes and crime rises. This draconian award is only going to deepen concerns over the arbitrary application of the law by figures like James, who previously sought to disband the National Rifle Association. (She has shown less interest in cracking down on liberal organizations like Black Lives Matter or the National Action Network of Al Sharpton despite their own major financial scandals.)

As James gleefully uses this law to break up a major New York corporation, it is hard to imagine many businesses rushing to the Big Apple. This follows Democratic politicians such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) campaigning against Amazon seeking to open new facilities in the city. After this week, drawing new businesses to the city is going to be about as easy as selling country estates during the French Revolution.

The one hope for New York businesses may be the U.S. Supreme Court. Despite the deference afforded to the states and their courts, the court has occasionally intervened to block excessive damage awards.

Turley blamed Engoron for acting with prejudice against Trump. He also suggested the U.S. Supreme Court might find New York in violation of the Due Process Clause of Amendment XIV.

In still another development, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-N.Y.) yesterday answered critics who say the Engoron verdict could scare businesses away. On John Catsimatidis’ radio program she flatly told New York’s businesspeople not to worry – because they are not Donald Trump.

I think that this is really an extraordinary unusual circumstance that the law-abiding and rule-following New Yorkers who are business people have nothing to worry about because they’re very different than Donald Trump and his behavior.

She might, in saying that, have confessed that Judge Engoron engaged in selective application of the law. That would violate not only the Due Process Clause but also the Bill of Attainder Clauses. But the alternative is to say, “Businesses, take notice! The days of cavalierly overvaluing and undervaluing real estate for business or tax purposes are over.”

A GoFundMe campaign

Finally, Elena Cardone, wife of entrepreneur Grant Cardone, started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to pay the Trump fine. (Donors should follow this link.) But GoFundMe has a history of canceling campaigns it does not like – and doesn’t always refund the money. Some detractors have already encouraged GoFundMe to disallow the campaign.

Update, 12 Noon EST

Chicago Ray now owns up to taking down his Friday post, and gives his own update on where the truckers stand:

TimesNowNews reports that the truckers’ boycott is now trending.