Today the prosecution and defence in Donald Trump’s criminal trial are due to begin their summing up. As you might expect, it’s been an unedifying spectacle.
As a businessman, Trump is the epitome of everything that is wrong with aggressive capitalism. His business practices stink to high heaven. He will trample over anything and anyone in the pursuit of wealth.
Although Trump portrays himself as a self-made man, he is a rich kid who was put on his pedestal by a wealthy father rather than climbing onto it through his own efforts. He lied his way out of conscription, and the former ‘commander in chief’ regards US veterans injured fighting for their country as ‘losers’.
In politics, he rose to the presidency by convincing enough of those he also considers ‘losers’ – the working and non-working class – that he was a ‘man of the people’, and by pledging to ‘clear the swamp’ in Washington.
Of course he did nothing of the sort. He filled the swamp with alligators.
He took the electorate for mugs, yet many cheered him for it. Proving the quip that the church loves a sinner, an alliance of right-wing Catholic bishops and Protestant evangelicals rallied to his cause. Broadcasters corrupted themselves by pumping out his deceits. He is the leader of a cult, and a dangerous one at that.
He holds the rare distinction of being impeached twice – first for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, and then for inciting insurrection when he refused to accept the result of the 2020 election.
Unsurprisingly, in the ranking of American presidents, Trump comes last. He used the presidency to feed his narcissism, and he left the United States in a worse position than when he was sworn in on Capitol Hill.
Abroad, the country’s standing nose-dived, and his isolationism cleared the way for Putin and Xi Jinping to further extend their spheres of influence.
The US Supreme Court, the ultimate guardian of the constitution, is now in the hands of right-wing ideologues. They are fundamentalists interpreting the law on 18th century standards rather than the needs of America today. So brazen are some of its members that they are unafraid to show their allegiance to Trump.
Yet, in spite of all this (or perhaps because of it), Trump goes into November’s presidential election as the favoured candidate in all but one of the six ‘swing states’ that determine the presidency.
Biden, who has made a material difference to the lives of many (not least the poorest), is not reaping the harvest. He has lost younger voters over his support for Netanyahu and his all-out war in Gaza; and, shockingly, Trump is gaining ground among Black and Latin-American voters.
Why would you put your faith in a man whose sole interest is himself? A man who exploits divisions in society for his own ends? And, critically, a man who incited insurrection in a vain attempt to remain in office? These are the actions of a despot.
A second Trump presidency would be a total disaster, not only for the United States but for the world. There would be no restraint – not from those around him, not from Congress and the Supreme Court, not from civil society.
Trump has made it clear that the primary aim of his second term will be retribution – the relentless pursuit of those who ‘stole’ the presidency from him in 2020, and those who have tried to call him to account over the past four years.
The best we can hope for is that he will fritter his time away on his golf courses (he did a lot of that last time around), but the world needs proper leadership right now, not a man with a dodgy swing who spends too much time in the rough.
Regardless of the outcome of Trump’s current criminal trial, he remains public enemy number one in the court of the world
There are legitimate questions about whether Biden is capable of providing that leadership. But given the choice will be between him and the man dubbed ‘a baby with a toupee’ by comedian Jimmy Fallon, there is no other cause to support than Biden’s.
But even if Biden defies the polls, the US electoral system cannot be relied on the produce the right result. In 2016 Trump lost to Clinton in the popular vote, but he won the White House by securing the Electoral College.
We live in dangerous times, and regardless of the outcome of Trump’s current criminal trial, he remains public enemy number one in the court of the world.
