On former comedian and Minnesota Democratic Senator Al Franken's podcast, David Frum, a RINO who served in the George W. Bush administration as a speechwriter, was at it again.
A second Trump term, Frum said, would be a ‘revenge’ presidency. Repeating words from his article in the January/February 2024 issue of the Atlantic Monthly, he warned:
Trump would arrive with a much better understanding of the system's vulnerabilities, more willing enablers in tow, and a much more focused agenda of retaliation against his adversaries and impunity for himself.
But he contradicted his own fear by insisting earlier in the interview that the Deep State was entirely up to it and ready to retaliate against Trump. He expressed confidence that government bureaucrats would slow-walk or outright disobey Trump's orders. The Senate would fail to confirm Trump's nominees, so Trump may not even have a fully-staffed cabinet with only acting secretaries running the show.
Frum's conservative authenticity in liberal circles comes from the fact that he served under Bush 43. Frum has since moved on to left-wing media outlets like the Atlantic and MSNBC, where he serves as a political commentator.
The Bush administration was known to be home to some of the most liberal anti-Trump personalities ever. Nicole Wallace, who served as White House Communications Director during the Bush presidency and in his 2004 re-election campaign, is now a star MSNBC-TDS-Never-Trumper anchor. Matthew John Dowd, the chief strategist for the Bush–Cheney campaign in 2004, is an ABC News political consultant also afflicted by TDS. And Liz Cheney, daughter of the former VP, tried to make a career out of bad-mouthing Trump, only to see voters eliminate her from the public eye. Of course, liberal media outlets continue to give her air time precisely for her professed hatred for Trump.
Harvard law professor and Bloomberg columnist Noah Feldman was even more direct about how to stop Trump during a second presidency. Trump could try to nominate incompetent hacks to be his legal bag carriers, Feldman wrote. If that happens, it would be the job of the legal community, conservatives and liberals alike, to block such judges from being confirmed.
The Left's idea is to leave the entire government apparatus - the executive branch, Congress, and the courts - in a state of paralysis for Trump's entire second term. It is an incredible position for people who have made protecting and honoring democracy their battle cry for nearly nine years. The Left reviled Trump for not accepting the 2020 verdict and impeached him for that offense, conducted partisan J6 proceedings, had AG Garland appoint a Special Counsel to charge Trump, and relied on liberal prosecutors and judges to charge him with 91 counts. Yet, the Left is openly planning to protest an election result should Trump win and putting in place a series of actions to deny Americans their choice of leader. How undemocratic is that?
The premise of Frum's arguments is the sincere hope that Trump will somehow be criminally convicted in a court of law, rendering him unable to serve. Frum writes:
The government cannot function with an indicted or convicted criminal as its head. The President would be an outlaw or on his way to becoming an outlaw. For his survival, he would have to destroy the rule of law.
Frum's articulation is utter nonsense and only intended to instill fear in the Left to drive up turnout. Seton Hall's law professor Eugene Mazo correctly said in an April 2023 Politico article. Mazo said:
There’s nothing barring Trump from running. Even a federal conviction doesn’t prevent that. … Even if he were mentally insane. The Supreme Court has said what’s in the Constitution are the only requirements you need to run for federal office.
The White House website says:
The Constitution lists only three qualifications for the Presidency — the President must be at least 35 years of age, be a natural born citizen, and have lived in the United States for at least 14 years.
If a conviction doesn't bar Trump from running, David Frum, how can a win make him a criminal?
Besides, convictions in trial courts are routinely appealed, so even a potential conviction could be overturned. According to the United States Courts, "an appeal is available if, after a trial in the U.S. District Court, the losing side has issues with the trial court proceedings, the law that was applied, or how the law was applied. Generally, on these grounds, litigants have the right to an appellate court review of the trial court’s actions." We have documented the lawfare against Trump on numerous occasions. Until the Supreme Court has had a say, how can Trump be held guilty?
Frum writes that since 2021, Trump-skeptical Republicans have been "pushed out of" politics. Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger "forfeited their" House seats to defend election integrity.
No one pushed Cheney and Kinzinger out. Cheney ran a valiant campaign in Wyoming, even begging Democrats to cross party lines and vote in the Republican primary. She lost her election by 30 points. She wasn't pushed out, David Frum. This is what happens in democracies. The people of her state detested her anti-Trump stance. Kinziger was too chicken even to try, so he retired, not wanting to be humiliated like Cheney was.
Frum's election integrity assertions need calibration. This month, a Dailymail/TIPP poll shows that nearly a third of voters now say President Joe Biden was not legitimately elected in 2020. Entry polling in the Iowa caucus showed that more than two-thirds of Republican voters say Biden stole the 2020 election.
A Trump victory is now being discussed among panicked liberals not because they didn't do all in their power to stop Trump from running again, but despite their actions to prevent another Trump candidacy.
For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, according to Newton's third law of physics. Each instance of the Left's lawfare only serves to further bolster Trump's support. It's time for the Left to realize this. However, the past decade has demonstrated that the Left and their media allies never seem to learn their lesson. The same individuals who were in denial about Trump rallies in 2016 still struggle to understand the bond between Trump and his supporters. We are not optimistic that they ever will.
In a democracy, the choice of the people matters. The Left should do what it has been preaching to Trump and his allies since 2020: Respect the verdict and accept the winner to be the 47th president.
