Trump is showing just how divisive a new White House run would be

As a political freshman in 2016, Trump drew a degree of dissatisfaction with the economy and a feeling that the Washington establishment is ignoring millions of people. His victimization of Mexican and Muslim immigrants in this campaign played with fear of outsiders. Some Democrats believe his victory also stemmed from a racist backlash against the country’s first black commander in chief, who benefited from his racist and false allegations about the birthplace of ex-President Barack Obama.

What looks like a new attempt by Trump to retake the White House is already becoming an even more sinister affair, not least because of a twice-accused president who has already started a riot and sought to undermine US democracy staying in office, trying to regain the awesome powers of the presidency.

In the past few days, Trump appeared to be feeling an opening, with President Joe Biden coming under heavy criticism for his chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and with the pandemic resurgence in an attempt to hasten his own political aspirations. The former president hasn’t come up with any political plans or useful suggestions, such as addressing the country’s biggest crisis – the Covid-19 emergency that he botched so badly during his tenure. Rather, his remarks and attacks mostly indicate that a new presidential election campaign would be a vehicle for personal vengeance and the injured vanity of being rejected by voters after a single term in office. That was clear this weekend as the country celebrated the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks and the former president unleashed a series of political attacks on his successor.

There was something quite sad about the youngest ex-president feeling unable to join forces with Biden and ex-presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Obama at official memorial services for the attacks. Trump was never interested in joining the ex-president’s club. And his political mark as an outsider often relies on attacking establishment pillars such as former presidents. But his absence underscored the gaping divisions in a nation now incapable of even marking the unifying event in modern history: the national response to the terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

How Trump politicized the September 11th commemoration

Trump visited New York City police and firefighters on Saturday after being criticized for avoiding national customs and later doing undeclared work as a commentator on a boxing match. But even then, he couldn’t risk political digging, bragging about his previous campaign and government, lying that the 2020 elections were “rigged,” and gave broad indication that he would launch another presidential campaign.

“I know what I’m going to do, but from the standpoint of campaign finance laws we shouldn’t be talking about it yet,” Trump told a questioner, adding, “I think you’ll be happy, let me put it this way. I think you will be very happy. “

The former president also devastated Biden for withdrawing from Afghanistan – an issue worth debate and criticism, but perhaps not on a day devoted to commemorating the victims of the 2001 attacks.

“I hate talking about it that day,” Trump said, but then launched a lengthy attack on Biden, claiming that the situation would have been different if he had been in charge – even though he created the conditions for withdrawal by surrendering to the Taliban’s demands for withdrawal in a deal with the group.

Those who wait for Trump to behave decently or to become “president” have long been disappointed. But his behavior in recent days has been radical, even for an ex-president who has spent four years tearing down presidency conventions and political and legal norms.

Bush draws analogy between terrorists and domestic extremism

While Obama, Clinton, Bush and Biden attended official 9/11 events, Trump spent his time spreading a barrage of political statements.

“This is the 20th year of this war and should have been a year of victory, honor and strength. Instead, Joe Biden and his incompetent administration surrendered in defeat, ”Trump said in one sent by his political action committee.

“We will go on living, but unfortunately our country will be wounded for a long time. We will endeavor to recover from the embarrassment caused by this incompetence,” wrote the former president.

Trump’s defense attorneys may point out that Bush delivered a politicized speech at the Pennsylvania memorial dedicated to the victims of the fourth hijacked airliner on 9/11 that crashed when heroic passengers stormed the cockpit. But Bush defended democracy – and did not attack it like Trump did for much of Saturday. Comparing domestic violent extremists to the 9/11 hijackers, the 43rd president drew a clear analogy between the attack and storming of Congress by Trump supporters on January 6 following a rally by the outgoing and defeated president.

“There is little cultural overlap between violent extremists abroad and violent extremists domestically,” Bush said. “But in their contempt for pluralism, in their disregard for human life, in their determination to defile national symbols, they are children of the same evil spirit.”

Weapon race

Far from countering such extremism as Bush advised, Trump is still trying to adopt it, not only with his lies about electoral fraud that have convinced millions of people, but also with his continued arming of the race. His attacks on the integrity of the 2020 elections have led millions of his supporters to believe that a general election that even Trump’s own Justice Department said contained no serious corruption has been stolen. Not only does this pose a serious threat to belief in the U.S. political system, it is an important part of what it means to be a Republican in 2021. A new CNN poll released on Sunday found that around six in ten Republicans and Republican-minded independents believed Trump’s support and belief that he won in 2020 was at least a slightly important part of identifying with the Are party.

The ex-president’s power in the GOP – meaning he would be an unaffordable favorite in any new campaign to be nominated – can be testified by the way candidates who want his support have to accept his false claims of electoral fraud. Those who tell the truth about the November 2020 events and the Capitol Uprising – like Liz Cheney of Wyoming – are likely to find themselves with Trump-backed primary races. The House of Representatives Republican Conference, chaired by Kevin McCarthy, has become a wing of the Trump political movement that accepts his election falsehoods, glosses over history and embraces his authoritarian conservatism.

Some of Trump’s most harmful behavior occurs when he uses race as a weapon in the service of his political goals. In a statement last week, for example, the former president condemned authorities in Richmond, Virginia – the Confederate capital during the Civil War – for removing a statue in honor of General Robert E. Lee, the Confederate general who took up arms United States in a war in defense of slavery.

“Our culture is being destroyed and our history and heritage, both good and bad, are being wiped out by the radical left, and we must not allow that to happen!” wrote the former president. It wasn’t the first time Trump had defended the Confederation. He did so in the 2020 campaign when he took up the removal of statues of racist historical figures to fuel fears among his constituents who fear their traditional white culture will be overwhelmed as part of the country’s growing diversity.

Trump’s belief that Lee was a great general is also challenged by history – and he seemed inadvertently open to criticism, arguing that if Lee had commanded troops in Afghanistan, he “shared that disaster many years ago would have ended in a complete and utter victory. “Of course, the commander in chief who waged this war from 2017 to January was none other than Trump himself.

Trump’s remarks lack the immediacy and platform he enjoyed as president, in part because his insurgent rhetoric led to his being kicked off social media platforms. But they are shared by his spokesmen and supporters on Twitter and Facebook. The ex-president also appears to have an open invitation to softball interviews with Fox News influencers.

Some of his most notable interventions in recent days came as he highlighted the agony of several parents of the 13 US soldiers who were killed in a suicide bombing outside Kabul airport last month who supported him and criticized Biden.

Under normal circumstances, it would be more than appropriate for a former president to comfort those in mourning. But Trump did it in politicized statements that give the impression that he was taking advantage of their grief.

This adds to a growing sense – evident in his mismanagement of the pandemic when he scrapped public health advice, and throughout his presidency – that there is nothing the former president will not do in support of his personal goals, either in a possible new offering for the White House.