I wrote about Donald Trump as the lead item to one of my newsletters last week. It was about the Big Lie and the insurrection and many of the other things that underlined Trump’s final weeks in office.
As often happens whenever I write about the former president, I get lots of reaction. The general theme: Why? Why write about someone who isn’t the president anymore? Why give him oxygen, especially if it’s to amplify a bunch of lies or unhinged propaganda?
One reader wrote that Trump is “old news” and writing about him is “just what he likes” and to “stop feeding him.”
But here’s the thing. It’s not old news, because what Trump is saying and doing gives us all an indication of what he might be planning next. What he says and does has an impact on his followers and, more importantly, many in the Republican Party. And much of it is troubling.
For example …
The Washington Post’s Bob Woodward and Robert Costa appeared on Sunday’s “Meet the Press” to promote “Peril,” their new book on Trump’s presidency. The two authors continue to paint a very disturbing picture of Trump’s attempt to maintain power even after losing last November’s election.
And Trump’s desire for power remains strong, Costa said, pointing to Trump and his rallies. He held another over the weekend in Georgia.
“I’ve learned, covering President Trump and covering politics, it doesn’t really matter sometimes what people think, it’s what they do, and to assume nothing,” Costa said. “In 2015, a lot of people said Donald Trump won’t run. He'll never win, once he announced in 2016. Well, he won and he lost in 2020. He wants power back. Our reporting in the book shows these rallies don’t get a ton of coverage, but he’s out there with this Churchillian type language, ‘We’ll never surrender. We’ll never give in,’ whipping up thousands of people across the country. And the most important thing, it’s not just his personality as the story. He’s influencing the Republican Party across the country to now run for office, to be secretaries of state, to be election officials — 2022 to 2024.”
Writing for Politico, Zack Stanton asks, “What If 2020 Was Just a Rehearsal?”
Stanton writes, “For the first time in American history, the losing candidate refused to concede the election — and rather than dismissing him as a sore loser, a startling number of Americans have followed Donald Trump down his conspiratorial rabbit hole. The safeguards that ensured he left office last January after losing the presidential election may be crumbling: The election officials who certified the counts may no longer be in place next time he falsely claims victory; if Republicans take Congress, a compliant Speaker could easily decide it’s simply not in his interest to let the party’s leader lose.”
Stanton has a Q&A with Rick Hasen, a legal scholar and expert in legislation, election law and campaign finance. Exactly one year ago, Hasen wrote a piece for Slate titled, “I’ve Never Been More Worried About American Democracy Than I Am Right Now.” And last month, on CNN, he said he was “scared (expletive).”
Hasen told Stanton, “But I’m even more frightened now than in those past months because of the revelations that continue to come to light about the concerted effort of Trump to try to alter the election outcome: Over 30 contacts with governors, state legislative officials, those who canvass the votes; pressuring governors, pressuring secretaries of state; having his lawyer pass out talking points to have Mike Pence declare Trump the winner even though he lost the election. I mean, this is not what we expect in a democracy.”
Hasen added, “The reason I’m so scared is because you could look at 2020 as the nadir of American democratic processes, or you could look at it as a dress rehearsal.”
Writing for The Washington Post, contributing columnist Robert Kagan wrote, “Our constitutional crisis is already here.” He starts with this ominous tone: “The United States is heading into its greatest political and constitutional crisis since the Civil War, with a reasonable chance over the next three to four years of incidents of mass violence, a breakdown of federal authority, and the division of the country into warring red and blue enclaves.”
He added, “First, Donald Trump will be the Republican candidate for president in 2024. The hope and expectation that he would fade in visibility and influence have been delusional. He enjoys mammoth leads in the polls; he is building a massive campaign war chest; and at this moment the Democratic ticket looks vulnerable. Barring health problems, he is running. Second, Trump and his Republican allies are actively preparing to ensure his victory by whatever means necessary.”
Meanwhile, according to The Detroit News’ Craig Mauger, South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham told the crowd at the Michigan Republican Party’s leadership conference, “I don’t think Trump is listening. He might be. I hope President Trump runs again.”
Yes, this is the same Graham who routinely slammed Trump before 2016.
“People ask me, ‘What happened with you and Trump?’” Graham told the crowd. ‘I say we found common ground. I’ve come to like him and he likes him.” Then Graham joked, “That gets us through 18 holes. The first nine, I'll tell him why I like him. The back nine is why he likes him.”
Graham admitted Trump can be a “handful,” but added, “Now I believe there’s magic there. (He’s) got to turn it down a notch. But there’s magic there.”
All the brazen things Trump attempted to hold onto the presidency. All the signs that point to him wanting to run again. Others, like Graham, urging him to run. The support Trump gets from a very powerful conservative media.
That’s why I and others continue to write about Donald Trump.
Wallace grills Abbott
“Fox News Sunday” moderator Chris Wallace grilled Texas Gov. Greg Abbott about Texas’ abortion law not having an exception for rape or incest. Abbott previously had explained, “Goal No. 1 in the state of Texas is to eliminate rape so that no woman, no person will be a victim of rape.”
Wallace asked Abbott, “Is it reasonable to say to somebody who is the victim of rape and might not understand that they are pregnant, you know, until six weeks, ‘Well, don’t worry about it because we’re going to eliminate rape as a problem in the state of Texas?’”
Abbott said, “Well, there’s multiple things I have to say in answer to this. But the first thing, obviously, is that survivors of sexual assault, they deserve support, care and compassion. And Texas is stepping up to make sure that we provide that by signing a law and creating in the governor’s office a sexual assault survivors task force.”
Wallace continued to press Abbott, saying, “Governor, excuse me, because we are running out of time — there were more than 15,000 rapes in 2019 when you were governor.”
Wallace later said, “Let me just ask this question. A Republican state representative says that he’s going to offer a new measure that would restore the exception to the Texas abortion law for victims of rape and incest. If that came to your desk, will you sign it or not?”
Abbott continued to evade answering directly, saying, “The goal is to protect the lives of every child with a heartbeat. And so we’re working to achieve that goal.”
It was good work by Wallace.
Banned Books Week and race in America
