May I offer my humble opinion on legal matters concerning the former president of the United States?
I know, we hear enough about American politics. We have our own problems with Chinese election interference, public health care issues, wildfires... but... It’s Donald Trump. I mean, this guy could become president again.
Based on current polling, he has a 50/50 chance. Assuming he wins the nomination (his support at the moment stands at 54%), he’s up against a president who isn’t polling too well.
True, Joe Biden rarely polls well. He was polling lousy before he won the Democratic nomination. And he won just enough votes in the swing states to defeat Trump in 2020. But his age, – even though I don’t see it as an issue – inflationary woes, and the Hunter Biden fiasco are taking a toll on the old man. Again, I don’t have an issue with his age, but the way he walks and talks looks, well, elderly. Image matters a lot in politics.
Trump, on the other hand, is still full-on Trump. To me, he sounds like a crazy man, but to many others, he’s just Trump. I don’t want to downplay the average voter and their political views, but politics can promote ignorance to the point of absurdity.
As an example, a few weeks ago a young Canadian woman explained to our 20-year-old Ukrainian visitor how things under Trump were better than Biden because first, there was no war in Ukraine and second, there was no pandemic.
Just a reminder to all, the pandemic began when Trump was in office. In fact, he actually had covid while president – remember the iconic maskless wave from the White House balcony? Regarding the war in Ukraine, I can assure you Trump would not have prevented the Russian invasion. If anything, Vladimir Putin would have been handed the keys to Kyiv by Trump himself.
A friend of mine suggested that Trump would have been better than Biden because he supported the Keystone XL pipeline which would benefit Canada. Never mind the tariffs that Trump put on Canadian steal while he was president.
Perhaps more worrying, a good portion of the American public continues to find appeal in the strongman – a trait typical of leaders in China and Russia. Human rights and Western economies have benefited from a political system that allows for free elections and free speech, yet it appears some of us long for the good ol’ days of autocratic rule.
Trump, unlike most of the other Republican candidates, encapsulates this autocratic impulse to the nth degree, and it’s dangerous. One can only imagine the political retribution that will result should Trump become president again. He will undoubtedly pardon an untold number of political friends and criminals, including himself.
Based on the three (and counting) indictments of Trump, we know he has done some bad things – and some incredibly stupid things. The classified documents case could be likened to a young kid in a store shoplifting cigarettes, where the owner of the store catches him and says, “Just give me the cigarettes and you can go.” But the boy leaves with the cigarettes anyway, saying, “I’ll take my chances... And hopefully one day become president.”
The absurdity of it all could suggest that this should not have been prosecuted in the first place. Not because anyone – especially not Trump – is above the law, but because the prosecution holds the appearance of political persecution.
Again, I understand this is not trivial. But similar to the first indictment, which has an even worse appearance of political retribution (involving Trump paying off a porn star eight years ago), these cases inflame his base. The third indictment, involving the January 6th insurrection, is the worst of them all, but once you get to indictment #3, is anyone really paying attention?
If he wasn’t running for president, it’s a different story – prosecute him to the hilt. But because he is, and has the support of over half of Republicans, these cases may only fan the flames of his political ambition.
And I do worry he will burn things down.
