Surprising assessment of Donald Trump by George Will



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Here is the key bit:

"I believe what this president has done to our culture, to our civic speech … you can not disturb those bells and you can not not understand what he said, and you can not change what he's been doing for a while now It's normal for schoolboy taunts and obvious lies to be generated in a steady stream I think it will do more damage in a sustainable way than illegal burglaries from Richard Nixon. "

That's George Will, guys. Not Rachel Maddow. And that is George Will who says that what Trump does, has done and will do for – and with – the presidency is more destructive than the actions of a president who was forced to resign in order not to be put in accusation.

Sit down with all that for a minute.

Will's broader argument is that Nixon's coordinated robberies at the Democratic National Committee were secret and, once revealed, largely condemned by the public and both political parties. What Trump is doing is happening before our eyes – and with the tacit assent of the Republican party that Will left in 2016.

"What was the revolutionary effect of Donald Trump [is] to make things unthinkable until recently, Will said in The Times podcast, asking host Pamela Paul if she could design former presidents such as John Kennedy or Dwight Eisenhower pronouncing one of the many statements of Trump .

Will's words that seem to me the most true are these: "You can not disturb these bells." I think he's 100% right on this point. The idea that once Trump leaves the White House – whether involuntarily in January 2021 or voluntarily in January 2025 – the repercussions and repercussions of what he has done on the presidency (and on how the presidency is covered) disappearing is a mistake.

Politics is a copycat game. Has always been. What Trump has learned to politicians, is that telling the truth is not so important – especially if you have your own megaphone (in the case of Trump, Twitter + Fox News) to create your own "alternative facts". And that the presidential norms and the idea of ​​being "presidential" are a meaningless construction. And many more "lessons" that will destroy the way people run for office and act once elected.

Point: What Will knows, is that Trump has already changed the presidency – and our culture – in a profound way, which will not "come back" once he has left office. His footprint on the desk is deep and wide.

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