How to trump Donald Trump

Never in the storied history of the United States has a presidential aspirant ever been as legally and politically vilified as Donald Trump. Yet, judging from recent credible surveys, he appears to be the overwhelming choice to win the Republican Party nomination, and to be leading, by a small margin, incumbent President Joe Biden, the shoo-in candidate for reelection of the Democratic Party in the US elections this November.

SO MANY TIMES HE HAS BEEN SUED CRIMINALLY AND CIVILLY that I now label him as the “MOST SUIT-able PRESIDENTIAL ASPIRANT.” I do not have the space to detail all these suits. Let me just focus on two sets that could stop him from being the next president of the most powerful country on earth.

First, as I expected in my Sept. 4, 2023 column (“Prosecuting and disqualifying Trump”), the Supreme Court of Colorado, voting 4-3, banned his inclusion in the Grand Old Party’s (GOP) nomination process in that state. The secretary of state of Maine also banned the inclusion of Trump (and/or his “electors”) in the nomination and election in that state.

These legal actions were based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution which states rather awkwardly: [N]o person shall “hold [any public office]” if he/she has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the [US], or given aid or comfort to [its] enemies …”

Trump’s lawyers have appealed these two decisions to the Supreme Court of the United States (Scotus), arguing that (1) the prohibition does not apply to presidential candidates because the prohibition refers only to “person” and “public office,” and does not mention “candidates for president,” (2) the vicious, riotous, and armed attempt to prevent the US Congress from holding its session on Jan. 6, 2021, to proclaim Biden as the winner in the 2020 US election did not constitute “insurrection or rebellion,” (3) assuming it did, Trump had no part in such “insurrection or rebellion.” If at all, his verbal outbursts at the time were protected by his constitutional right to free speech, (4) at all events, Trump must first be convicted by final judgment of a court of law before the ban could be applied to him, and (5) the constitutional amendment was intended to prevent defeated former confederacy officers during the US Civil War from running for and/or holding any public office. Simply stated, this constitutional ban has become functus officio because its limited purpose has long been accomplished.

SECOND, AT LEAST FOUR CRIMINAL CASES have been lodged against him by the Grand Juries in Georgia, New York, Florida, and Washington that could incarcerate him during his remaining life on earth. In fact, he has become the only former US president to be arrested, detained (later released upon posting a $200,000 bail), and taken “scowling” mug shots of. Many of his co-defendants and former political lieutenants had pleaded guilty, after plea bargaining for lesser penalties.

In all these criminal cases, Trump’s defense is “presidential immunity;” that is, he cannot—even after serving his term—be held liable for crimes he committed while he was the incumbent president, a defense that would put him, unlike ordinary citizens, beyond the reach of the rule of law. Tell that to the marines!

All these criminal cases which are pending in the district courts will eventually reach the Scotus. How the Scotus will decide these cases, given that six of the nine justices were named by GOP presidents (three of the six were appointed by Trump himself during his four-year incumbency; only the remaining three were appointed by Democratic Party presidents) would reveal how independent the Scotus really is. Worse, the charlatan former president publicly said he expected the six conservative justices, especially the three he appointed, to side with him, “no matter what.”

Quoting from The New York Times, Manila Overseas Press Club chair Tony Lopez characterized him, “[A]s president and as a dominant figure in the Republican Party, Mr. Trump demonstrated a character and temperament that render him utterly unfit for high office. As president, he wielded power carelessly and often cruelly and put his ego and his personal needs above the interests of the country. Now, as he campaigns again, his worst impulses remain as strong as ever—encouraging violence and lawlessness, exploiting fear and hate for political gain, undermining the rule of law and the Constitution, applauding dictators—and are escalating as he tries to regain power. He plots retribution, intent on eluding the institutional, legal, and bureaucratic restraints that put limits on him in his first term.”

But I think the short, apt, and memorable description of Trump was uttered by former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, “Chaos follows him.”

HOW CAN TRUMP BE TRUMPED POLITICALLY? In my humble opinion, that can happen if the Republican Party will sober up and nominate rising, brilliant, young, 51-year-old Haley instead of demagogic, self-indulgent, unpresidential, authoritarian, 77-year-old Trump. If and when that happens, Haley can, again IMHO, easily trump the forgetful, frail, 81-year-old Joe Biden.

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