That Time the Media Dubbed Michael Avenatti ‘Savior of the Republic’

Democratic attorney Michael Avenatti is facing spending the rest of his life in prison in New York and California for a wide array of financial crimes, including fraud, embezzlement and extortion. A year ago, he was a human Excalibur who could possibly vanquish Donald Trump once and for all.

In 2018, one couldn't turn on the news without seeing his face while promoting himself and his client Stormy Daniels's case against President Donald Trump, which delved into a non-disclosure agreement and hush money payment over an alleged 2006 affair she had with Trump. In addition to being a near-daily guest on CNN and MSNBC, Avenatti appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Real Time with Bill Maher, CBS This Morning, Good Morning America, Today, The View, The Circus and more, racking up hundreds of millions of dollars of free media. On May 3 last year, he appeared on 10 different shows in 24 hours.

Avenatti won accolades from liberal media members for his aggressive style and promises of bringing down Trump—he repeatedly has predicted Trump won't serve out his first term—such as MSNBC contributor Eddie Glaude, Jr. calling him a "beast" and claimed historian Jon Meacham called him the "savior of the republic." MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle said she had to offer Avenatti an apology for doubting his ability to combat Trump, MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell said Trump was "terrified" of Avenatti, and The View‘s Joy Behar said he was "saving the country."

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