Has There Ever Been a More Ridiculous Leader in All of History?

Published in El País
(Spain) on 2 July 2017
by John Carlin (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Kaleb Vick. Edited by Margaret Dalzell.
What is most incredible isn’t that Donald Trump unleashed another deranged childish Twitter rant last week, spitting blood and bile at a pair of news anchors. Nor is it that this Sunday, the commander-in-chief of the United States resorted to a guerrilla attack in his holy war against CNN.

What is most incredible isn’t that Trump humiliates the dignity of his position, of his country and of his language every time he turns his impulses into words.

What is most incredible isn’t that he has told 100 lies in the five months since his inauguration, as The New York Times described last week.

What is most incredible isn’t that his favorite foreigners are Russian, Filipino or Saudi tyrants.

What is most incredible isn’t that the president of the United States, with the possible exception of the president of North Korea, is the most unusual leader on the planet.

What is most incredible isn’t that his total worldly knowledge can fit inside of a Coca-Cola can.

What is most incredible isn’t that the most powerful man on the planet will be the daftest and irresponsible of his class when he meets with leaders this week at the Group of Twenty summit in Hamburg.*

Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping all know this perfectly well. You, dear readers, know it perfectly well. A large majority of the members of U.S. Congress, Supreme Court justices and the governors of 50 states also know it. The members of his Cabinet, obligated to treat him like a spoiled child, a mad dog or a feudal king, must know it as well.

That is what is incredible. The most incredible and most perverse thing in the period in which we live is that Congress, the Supreme Court, governors, and members of the presidential Cabinet withstand this lunatic holding the most powerful position on the planet. That they haven’t removed him for the good of his country and humanity. That they haven’t turned to the Constitution or common sense or to whatever it would take to force his exit. That they haven’t followed the logic of the Republican Party senator who last week said, “Please, just stop,” as a response to the grotesque presidential tweet against two reporters.

If he were the manager of a local McDonald’s, he would have been fired already. But no. The days pass, we wake up in the morning and still, there’s Trump.

Has there ever been a leader throughout history whose inconsistency between the global reach of his power and the foolishness of his character has been more abysmal? Maybe a Roman emperor. I welcome my readers’ suggestions.

*Editor’s note: This article was written prior to Donald Trump’s attendance at the G-20 Summit, but the editors’ feel its sentiment is still relevant.


Lo más increíble no es que Donald Trump soltara otra tuitorreada de adolescente trastornado la semana pasada, escupiendo sangre y bilis contra una pareja de presentadores de televisión. Ni que este domingo el comandante en jefe de Estados Unidos recurriera a una ofensiva gorilesca en su guerra santa contra la CNN.


Lo más increíble no es que Trump degrade la dignidad de su cargo, la de su país y la de su lengua cada vez que convierte sus impulsos en palabras.

Lo más increíble no es, como detalló The New York Times la semana pasada, que haya dicho cien mentiras en los cinco meses pasados desde su investidura.

Lo más increíble no es que sus extranjeros favoritos sean déspotas rusos, filipinos o saudíes.

Lo más increíble no es que el presidente de Estados Unidos sea el líder más raro del planeta, con la posible excepción del de Corea del Norte.

Lo más increíble no es que la totalidad de sus conocimientos del mundo cabrían cómodamente dentro de una lata de Coca-Cola.

Lo más increíble no es que cuando el hombre más poderoso del planeta se reúna esta semana con los líderes del G20 en Hamburgo él sera, de lejos, el más bobo y el más irresponsable de la clase.

Todo esto lo saben perfectamente bien Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron, Vladímir Putin y Xi Jinping. Lo saben ustedes, queridos lectores. Lo sabe la gran mayoría de los miembros del Congreso norteamericano, los jueces de la Corte Suprema, los gobernadores de los 50 Estados. Lo tienen que saber también los miembros de su Gabinete, obligados todos a tratarle como un niño malcriado, o un perro rabioso, o un loco rey feudal.

Por eso lo que sí es increíble, lo más increíble y lo más aberrante de la época en la que vivimos, es que el Congreso, el Tribunal Supremo, los gobernadores y los miembros del Gabinete presidencial de Estados Unidos aguanten que semejante energúmeno ocupe el cargo más peligroso del planeta, que no le hayan destituido por el bien de su país y el de la humanidad; que no hayan recurrido a la Constitución o al sentido común o a lo que sea para forzar su salida; que no hayan seguido la lógica del senador del partido republicano que dijo la semana pasada, como respuesta a aquel grotesco tuit presidencial contra los dos periodistas: “Pare. Por favor, pare ya”.

Si fuese el gerente de un local de McDonald’s le hubieran despedido hace tiempo. Pero no. Pasan los días, uno se despierta por la mañana, y ahí sigue Trump.

¿Ha habido alguna vez en la historia algún líder en el que la discrepancia entre el alcance global de su poder y la ridiculez de su persona haya sido más abismal? Quizá algún emperador romano. Invito a los lectores a que hagan propuestas.
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