What Did Trump Actually Accomplish During His Presidency
Wrong Man, At The Wrong Place, and At The Wrong Time
By Chris Custer, MD
He certainly did not make America great again, if anything we are less united and weaker than before. Many naysayers said democracy was dying, and unfortunately am starting to take notice of what they are saying.There are two ways to look at Mr. Trump's actions either the premeditated attacks on our democracy or:
did his unstoppable assault on civic institutions and governing norms succeed in highlighting the system's fragility while also tempering its resilience?(1)
I can make a good argument for the former. While the attacks of Jan. 6th, 2021 were not deliberate acts he made, he gave the rioters a good reason to go to the capital. If anything he was criminally negligent in his duty to sway the rioters away from rioting and breaking the law.
He challenged many values which many of us and democracies in general hold dear to our hearts. His attack on the separation of the executive, judicial, and legislature is shown by his need for more power, ie. executive privilege.(2) It is not unusual for presidents to want more power. He knew full well that money buys influence, but only up to a certain point. What I take issue with is how he tried to achieve this power. His bold- faced aggressive and assertive want for power. He was so blatant about it, lying, ignoring subpoenas, and thinking he was above the law. He gave executive privilege a whole new meaning. He broke the law when stepping down from office, he didn't hand over all administrative documents to the National Archives.(3) His actions were inconsistent with presidents stepping down peacefully. Trump giving a speech just blocks away from the capital telling the would be rioters that he supported them and to march on the Capital building, and his frantic efforts to remain in office.(4) His speech did everything but actually tell the mob to riot. He had the power to stop the rioter's violence, but he didn't. Isn't that criminal negligence-where the fault lies in the failure to foresee and so allow otherwise avoidable dangers to manifest. We must remember this totally is in his character, for he is known to bitterly dislike to be wrong. But if it wasn't for the seriousness of the issue in question, it would have been included in a comic stand up routine. He is now ignoring subpoenas for this.(5) Mr. Trump( I disliked it when I called him president but from the phrase, saluting the uniform, not the person then I swallowed my pride and called him President) is a consummate liar, lying thousands of time during his administration. He was a very quick study for leaning how to give or say what his audience( often manipulated) what they wanted to see.
His breaking a law is to rationalize why he broke a law is using faulty logic. The personality traits he has are reprehensible. His egocentric and narcisstic ways, to say the least is not my cup of tea.
REFERENCES
1)https://www.thefulcrum.us/big-picture/trump-threat-to-democracy
2)https://www.thefulcrum.us/big-picture/trump-threat-to-democracy
3)https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/03/trump-documents-national-archives-release-records-about-recovery-effort.html
4)https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/01/12/us/capitol-mob-timeline.html
5)https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/trump-s-use-executive-privilege-will-test-congressional-power-enforce-n1281317