Should we still give too much weight to coverage of Donald Trump?
I have been asking myself this question since the day he descended the escalator to announce his candidacy for the 2016 elections.
Trump has exploited the media better than anyone else and they have exploited his presence to boost their ratings. Having helped create the monster, we must now work to correct this mistake.
After Joe Biden’s 2020 victory, many of us thought a former president under siege by the courts would be confined to the sidelines in the 2024 election cycle.
Not Hitler, but not much better
Despite everything, Trump is more dangerous than ever. That is why I am convinced that we must continue to talk about this, because not doing so entails too many risks.
If Trump is not Hitler, it is nonetheless difficult to deny that he borrows some strategies and statements from the game plan of the fascist regimes of the 1930s. Since his defeat in 2020, the 45 countries have become…H The president has never been so forceful in his statements before.
When he says that thieves must be shot down in the street or that he will divert government services in retaliation, there is no reassurance for democracy and respect for the Bill of Rights.
The power of thinking about the powers of the executive authority
However, the historian in me sees a benefit to Trump’s presence: exposing the flaws of the American Constitution.
If it has to be completely eliminated first, it will then be necessary to tackle two huge projects. First, listen to your followers to try to understand their frustration. We cannot hope to approach everyone, but it is necessary to show that we are not ignoring them.
Second, we must address the ambiguity surrounding the limits of executive power. The Founding Fathers did not envision the victory of a man facing 91 charges. They believed that the Electoral College and impeachment proceedings would be sufficient to remove such an undeserving candidate from office. Trump does not compare himself to any other president.
In this regard, I look forward to seeing what the Supreme Court has to say about presidential immunity. If the Constitution is clear about the immunity enjoyed by elected representatives in Congress, nothing is said about the President. Of course, the Supreme Court’s opinion will have a major impact on Trump-related trials, but above all it will have an impact on the future of the presidency.
American democracy suffers from many shortcomings (the most important of which is the dominance of money power), and both political parties often drift into their extremism.
We hope for the best, but in emergency situations, we must at least come together to rule out the most serious symptoms of the ills ravaging the system.
