The notion that an American president would do nothing, and say nothing, if confronted with the knowledge that a foreign adversary was offering bounties to the Taliban for killing American troops is so outrageous that it is easy to dismiss as the rantings of a left-winger deluded by an irrational hatred for the president. However, these are not rumors from some obscure website but findings in reported in some of America’s most respected media outlets. When confronted with these reports, the White House has responded not with strong statements of support for our troops but by asserting that the President was not briefed about this. Sadly, given the limited mental capacity of the president, which lead to difficulties briefing him, this may in some sense be true.

This episode reveals something important about the Trump administration and indeed the five years since Trump announced his candidacy. This presidency, and this president, is such an aberration that five years ago if you discussed an American presidency like this in a political science seminar, scenario planning exercise or thought experiment you would conclude that it was impossible. The sheer number and breadth of misdeeds, borderline-and not so borderline-criminal acts, gratuitous cruelty, incompetence, traitorous activities and bigoted statements and actions that we have seen from this administration seems implausible. This leads to the problem that anybody who simply lists these acts sounds like a frothing radical rather than a simple chronicler of events.

For illustrative purposes, and recognizing limitations of space, we can begin with Trump’s record of suggesting Mexican immigrants are rapists, asking Russia to hack Hillary Clinton’s emails, saying he would only accept the outcome of the election if he won, asserting that neo-Nazis and white supremacists include some very fine people, putting children in cages, verbally attacking journalists and describing the press as enemies of the people, urging the police to be more violent with suspects, using the office of the presidency to enrich himself and his family, ignoring the Covid-19 crisis, suggesting that people drink disinfectant to cure themselves from the disease, accepting help from Russia during the campaign, continuing to conceal the true nature of his relationship with Russia throughout his presidency and, we shouldn’t forget, seeking to link assistance to an ally to that ally doing a political favor. This is a very partial list, but six years ago nobody would have believed any of these things were the actions of American president or even a strong candidate for the presidency.

It is nonetheless essential to note and remember all of the despicable, bigoted and unpatriotic actions of the Trump administration. Once the Trump period is over, his apologists and enablers, noting the way the political wind is blowing, will act to conceal their own complicity or move on to the post-Trump era. Patriotic Americans cannot let this happen. Relatively young and ambitious Republican politicians like Senators Ted Cruz of Texas or Marco Rubio of Florida will try to present themselves as the face of the post-Trump GOP, but we must not let this happen. Rubio, Cruz, Kevin McCarthy, Devin Nunes and many others have given cover to a corrupt president who has consistently put his own, and Vladimir Putin’s, interests above those of the US. America must not forget that.

If, as is looking reasonably likely, Joe Biden defeats Donald Trump in November, there will be strong pressure from the mainstream of both parties to move beyond the Trump administration and focus on the future rather than the past. This not only sounds appealing, but is also consistent with the view that many Americans have of ourselves as a forward looking people. Moving forward in this way would be a mistake.

Unfortunately, America must wrestle with the legacy of Donald Trump and ask itself the tough questions of how this happened and how to prevent it in the future-and Donald exiting the political stage in January, if that happens, will not change that. During Trump’s years in office one of the biggest and most recurring mistakes observers have made is to try to normalize his behavior and actions. Efforts to treat him, or write about him, like a normal president and to analyze his actions from the frame of previous presidents have only served to obscure the profundity of his misdeeds and give him more rope with which to hang all of us.

If these efforts continue, or are revived, after Trump leaves office it will have a similarly negative effect on the polity. A full reckoning with Trump’s presidency, that includes an accounting of all the cruelty, grift, corruption, lies, bigotry and disloyalty to our country is essential for the American future. Only when we do that can we effectively wrestle with the impact of the Trump presidency and put in guardrails and laws to help ensure that it won’t happen again.

Photo: cc/The White House

Lincoln Mitchell