I was chatting with a guy at a wedding recently who told me that Donald Trump was the best president in American history.<\/p>\n
You have to be careful these days.\u00a0Was he pulling my leg?\u00a0Was he serious?<\/p>\n
I explored:\u00a0\u201cWhat do you have in mind?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTrump moved the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and he negotiated the Abraham Accords.\u201d<\/p>\n
Got it.\u00a0If you\u2019re a strong supporter of Israel, and you ignore everything else, Trump\u2019s great.<\/p>\n
I headed to the bar for another drink.<\/p>\n
If you ask me, Trump is the worst president in American history.\u00a0In 12 short months, Trump has changed the world in ways that it will take decades \u2014 or longer \u2014 to recover from.\u00a0A year ago, American medical research was the envy of the world.\u00a0No more.\u00a0And one can\u2019t easily replace the institutional knowledge that has departed government agencies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A year ago, America had allies around the world who we could count on for support.\u00a0No more.\u00a0And now that countries have learned that the United States is untrustworthy, it\u2019s not clear that we\u2019ll ever be able to restore our reputation.<\/p>\n
A year ago, most countries were showing restraint in their pursuit of nuclear weapons.\u00a0I\u2019m pretty sure those days are over. If European countries in NATO and Asian allies can no longer trust American security guarantees \u2014 and Trump has made clear that they can\u2019t \u2014 then Germany and Poland and South Korea and Japan, not to mention less prominent countries, will think again about developing nuclear deterrents.<\/p>\n
Trump has changed the world, perhaps permanently, for the worse.\u00a0There\u2019s no going back.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not talking about political foolishness \u2014 pardoning the January 6 crowd \u2014 or economic foolishness \u2014 imposing, and then lifting, and then imposing again tariffs.\u00a0Those are short-term harms, from which the country might recover.\u00a0I\u2019m talking about long-term damage that may be irreparable.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s giving Trump the benefit of the doubt about whether he\u2019ll try to do something venal in connection with this year\u2019s midterm elections.<\/p>\n
Despite all that, I guarantee \u2014 guarantee \u2014 that at some point during the 2028 presidential election campaign, Democrats will say that one or more Republican candidates are \u201cworse than Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n
These are Democrats who scream that Trump is a fascist, compare him to Hitler, and believe that the United States may never again have a fair election.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
I guarantee you they\u2019ll say the 2028 candidate will be even worse.<\/p>\n
On what basis do I give this guarantee?<\/p>\n
First, there\u2019s the logic of political campaigns.\u00a0Every Republican candidate is the worst ever.\u00a0Bush lied and people died; no one could be worse.\u00a0Romney strapped his dog to the roof of a car; no one could be worse.\u00a0Trump ran companies into bankruptcy and had no government experience; how could things get worse?<\/p>\n
Folks always go nuts in political campaigns to gain an advantage over the other side.\u00a0Democrats will do it again in 2028.<\/p>\n
Second, there\u2019s past precedent.\u00a0In 2024, it looked for a while like Ron DeSantis was gaining ground and might become the Republican presidential nominee.\u00a0So what did Democrats say about him?<\/p>\n
There was the opinion piece in the\u00a0Los Angeles Times<\/a><\/em>\u00a0describing a DeSantis presidency as a \u201ccatastrophe in other ways,\u201d potentially more dangerous in certain respects than Trump.\u00a0There were\u00a0political forums<\/a>\u00a0in which folks wrote that \u201cDeSantis would be worse than Trump.\u201d\u00a0There were\u00a0Facebook discussion groups<\/a>\u00a0in which people explained that DeSantis\u2019s politics were to the right of Trump, and he was a more effective spokesman for those views, so DeSantis was the greater of two evils.<\/p>\n Finally, I guarantee that people will say that other candidates are worse than Trump because they already are doing precisely that.\u00a0A few weeks ago, in an opinion piece for\u00a0Fox News<\/a>, Hugh Hewitt canvassed the many places in which people have already said that JD Vance is worse than Trump.\u00a0Vance appears calmer, can speak more crisply, is more reactionary, and would be more effective.\u00a0He\u2019s worse than Trump!<\/p>\n No, no, no.<\/p>\n Trump is terrible.<\/p>\n Some spineless lickspittle Republican who showered praise on Trump during cabinet meetings or didn\u2019t have the gumption to call him out in Congress is surely a disgusting human being.\u00a0That person may be stupid or may be smart, may be trustworthy or not, may be a felon or have been found liable for damages for sexual assault, or may have many other reasons to oppose him (or her).<\/p>\n But having proclaimed that Trump is the worst, and with all the evidence to back it up, the 2028 Democratic campaign must be run on other issues.<\/p>\n No matter how bad the Republican candidate in 2028, that person is not worse than Trump.<\/p>\n It\u2019s simply impossible.<\/p>\n Mark\u00a0Herrmann\u00a0spent 17 years as a partner at a leading international law firm and later oversaw litigation, compliance and employment matters at a large international company. He is the author of\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>The Curmudgeon\u2019s Guide to Practicing Law<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Drug and Device Product Liability Litigation Strategy<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(affiliate links). You can reach him by email at\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>inhouse@abovethelaw.com<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n The post Who\u2019s Worse Than Trump?<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n I was chatting with a guy at a wedding recently who told me that Donald Trump was the best president in American history.<\/p>\n You have to be careful these days.\u00a0Was he pulling my leg?\u00a0Was he serious?<\/p>\n I explored:\u00a0\u201cWhat do you have in mind?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTrump moved the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and he negotiated the Abraham Accords.\u201d<\/p>\n Got it.\u00a0If you\u2019re a strong supporter of Israel, and you ignore everything else, Trump\u2019s great.<\/p>\n I headed to the bar for another drink.<\/p>\n If you ask me, Trump is the worst president in American history.\u00a0In 12 short months, Trump has changed the world in ways that it will take decades \u2014 or longer \u2014 to recover from.\u00a0A year ago, American medical research was the envy of the world.\u00a0No more.\u00a0And one can\u2019t easily replace the institutional knowledge that has departed government agencies.\u00a0<\/p>\n A year ago, America had allies around the world who we could count on for support.\u00a0No more.\u00a0And now that countries have learned that the United States is untrustworthy, it\u2019s not clear that we\u2019ll ever be able to restore our reputation.<\/p>\n A year ago, most countries were showing restraint in their pursuit of nuclear weapons.\u00a0I\u2019m pretty sure those days are over. If European countries in NATO and Asian allies can no longer trust American security guarantees \u2014 and Trump has made clear that they can\u2019t \u2014 then Germany and Poland and South Korea and Japan, not to mention less prominent countries, will think again about developing nuclear deterrents.<\/p>\n Trump has changed the world, perhaps permanently, for the worse.\u00a0There\u2019s no going back.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not talking about political foolishness \u2014 pardoning the January 6 crowd \u2014 or economic foolishness \u2014 imposing, and then lifting, and then imposing again tariffs.\u00a0Those are short-term harms, from which the country might recover.\u00a0I\u2019m talking about long-term damage that may be irreparable.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s giving Trump the benefit of the doubt about whether he\u2019ll try to do something venal in connection with this year\u2019s midterm elections.<\/p>\n Despite all that, I guarantee \u2014 guarantee \u2014 that at some point during the 2028 presidential election campaign, Democrats will say that one or more Republican candidates are \u201cworse than Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n These are Democrats who scream that Trump is a fascist, compare him to Hitler, and believe that the United States may never again have a fair election.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n I guarantee you they\u2019ll say the 2028 candidate will be even worse.<\/p>\n On what basis do I give this guarantee?<\/p>\n First, there\u2019s the logic of political campaigns.\u00a0Every Republican candidate is the worst ever.\u00a0Bush lied and people died; no one could be worse.\u00a0Romney strapped his dog to the roof of a car; no one could be worse.\u00a0Trump ran companies into bankruptcy and had no government experience; how could things get worse?<\/p>\n Folks always go nuts in political campaigns to gain an advantage over the other side.\u00a0Democrats will do it again in 2028.<\/p>\n Second, there\u2019s past precedent.\u00a0In 2024, it looked for a while like Ron DeSantis was gaining ground and might become the Republican presidential nominee.\u00a0So what did Democrats say about him?<\/p>\n There was the opinion piece in the\u00a0Los Angeles Times<\/a><\/em>\u00a0describing a DeSantis presidency as a \u201ccatastrophe in other ways,\u201d potentially more dangerous in certain respects than Trump.\u00a0There were\u00a0political forums<\/a>\u00a0in which folks wrote that \u201cDeSantis would be worse than Trump.\u201d\u00a0There were\u00a0Facebook discussion groups<\/a>\u00a0in which people explained that DeSantis\u2019s politics were to the right of Trump, and he was a more effective spokesman for those views, so DeSantis was the greater of two evils.<\/p>\n Finally, I guarantee that people will say that other candidates are worse than Trump because they already are doing precisely that.\u00a0A few weeks ago, in an opinion piece for\u00a0Fox News<\/a>, Hugh Hewitt canvassed the many places in which people have already said that JD Vance is worse than Trump.\u00a0Vance appears calmer, can speak more crisply, is more reactionary, and would be more effective.\u00a0He\u2019s worse than Trump!<\/p>\n No, no, no.<\/p>\n Trump is terrible.<\/p>\n Some spineless lickspittle Republican who showered praise on Trump during cabinet meetings or didn\u2019t have the gumption to call him out in Congress is surely a disgusting human being.\u00a0That person may be stupid or may be smart, may be trustworthy or not, may be a felon or have been found liable for damages for sexual assault, or may have many other reasons to oppose him (or her).<\/p>\n But having proclaimed that Trump is the worst, and with all the evidence to back it up, the 2028 Democratic campaign must be run on other issues.<\/p>\n No matter how bad the Republican candidate in 2028, that person is not worse than Trump.<\/p>\n It\u2019s simply impossible.<\/p>\n Mark\u00a0Herrmann\u00a0spent 17 years as a partner at a leading international law firm and later oversaw litigation, compliance and employment matters at a large international company. He is the author of\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>The Curmudgeon\u2019s Guide to Practicing Law<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Drug and Device Product Liability Litigation Strategy<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(affiliate links). You can reach him by email at\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>inhouse@abovethelaw.com<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n The post Who\u2019s Worse Than Trump?<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I was chatting with a guy at a wedding recently who told me that Donald Trump was the best president in American history. You have to be careful these days.\u00a0Was he pulling my leg?\u00a0Was he serious? I explored:\u00a0\u201cWhat do you have in mind?\u201d \u201cTrump moved the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-147557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147557\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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