After all the hand-wringing by Democrats (and Republicans) about having to play by a different set of rules than Republicans since the political emergence of Donald Trump, it is now clear that the 2024 election will get to the finish line without Trump having suffered the political retribution that nearly any other candidate in history would suffer given his record and conduct.
That would be great
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In other words it is not just the Supreme Court that has granted Trump immunity, but a large portion of the American public, which routinely dismisses unseemly Trump conduct as part of a rough deal to get favored “policy” in place.
Still others among the Trumpists outright celebrate the former president’s lawlessness, threats and condescension — and appreciate him for, rather than despite, these qualities.
Enabled by opportunistic politicians, special interests, a desultory Justice Department, and Trump’s internet-empowered base, the U.S. — for reasons that will be examined by scholars for hundreds of years — easily permitted the autocratic Trump to emerge from the ashes after he tried to stop the peaceful transition of power and suggested suspending the Constitution after his election loss.
The country tolerated Trump’s classified document-taking, his dictator-praising, his use of the presidency to further enrich himself and his family — and even, perhaps most astonishingly, his demeaning of the military, of whom a large percentage still support his candidacy.
Is there anything that Trump can do that would be distasteful enough for his supporters to stop supporting him? pic.twitter.com/AyuG1cwPIr
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) October 23, 2024
So an October Surprise will not waylay Trump’s candidacy now, because there is nothing that could shock his followers.
He calls his opponents “stupid” and tells and/or encourages lies that endanger people and imperil rescue efforts in counties that are loyal to him, all while mining a ferocious resentment, previously untapped, for elites that simmers among a sizable portion of the electorate — a resentment that Trump has weaponized against reason in a manner reminiscent of the way that narcotics overtake judgement.
To wit, his own choice for Vice President, JD Vance, has called Trump “cultural heroin.”
For tens of millions of people, Trump is a stand-in for that guy on their favorite team — the outrageous player the other teams hate, a brutally competitive bad sport who frequently crosses the line of sportsmanship, who sees everything as a competition, a zero-sum game, that must be won at any cost.
It’s a position commonly expressed by the fond admission: “yeah he’s an [expletive], but he’s our [expletive].”
Such players are forgiven any transgression by their fans, if it is done to stick it to the other side.
The question for Democrats and homeless anti-Trump Nikki Haley/Liz Cheney Republicans in the final weeks of the campaign is best represented by the classic bully phrase: “Oh yeah? What are you going to do about it?”
Because the people on Trump’s side at this juncture aren’t changing teams. No news — not of tax avoidance, potential dementia, sex scandals, grand theft — is poised to rain down and budge a group of loyalists for whom none of that matters as long as climate-caring John Kerry-types get their comeuppance.
Do you think somebody possibly has video of Trump mocking the handicapped, demeaning US prisoners of war, boasting about sexually assaulting women, praising Vladimir Putin, or urging a violent attack on the US Capitol? That would be huge.
— David Frum (@davidfrum) October 23, 2024
Writer David Frum sardonically parsed the situation recently, noting that each of these instances of potentially disqualifying Trump conduct is not in dispute, but rather is available on video:
“Do you think somebody possibly has video of Trump mocking the handicapped, demeaning US prisoners of war, boasting about sexually assaulting women, praising Vladimir Putin, or urging a violent attack on the US Capitol? That would be huge.”
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