Trump’s Country

The violent demonstration that was labeled an assault on the U.S. Capitol is a big gift for the Democratic Party and the liberal elite.

As a publicist for the British conservative magazine The Spectator recently pointed out, the dominant liberal media — CNN, The New York Times and their friends — are still boring us by repeatedly showing images of the Capitol riot and scaring us with red MAGA-hat-wearing attackers. To them, this is the gift that keeps on giving.

Despite the fact that these photos and videos were replayed during the trial, the Senate acquitted former President Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial, i.e., the proceedings held to hold him responsible for the riot. Some Republican senators voted with the Democrats, but not enough to convict Trump.

What all this means for Trump and his party is currently the main topic in the American and international press. According to the Austrian center-right newspaper Die Presse, the former president’s victory came at a great cost; his return to politics is unlikely, increasingly more conservatives are turning against him and the Republicans are greatly divided. The British left-leaning news outlet The Guardian is clearly not thrilled about the outcome. The Guardian says that Trump is keeping the Republican Party within his grasp and creating a dangerous legacy for American politics, since he can get away with anything without serious consequences.

It must be added to this and to other forms of left-leaning media outcries that the Capitol riot is an inexhaustible daily subject precisely meant to drag Trump down and prevent him from running for president in 2024 by tarnishing his remaining political value.

The analysis of the British conservative newspaper The Telegraph rightly points out what the Democrats wanted and what they successfully halted. They eliminated Trump, but their abolition culture, the political equivalent of cancel culture, failed. They may use the second impeachment trial as a springboard, but it was called a witch hunt anyway. It is not certain whether Trump will run for president again in four years at the age of 78, but he definitely wants to remain a key player in politics. He is not alone in wanting that, either. According to a recent poll, 74% of Republican voters would like him to stay active, and 48% said that he should run the party. Knowing this, it is understandable that a number of party leaders want to keep him in the inner circle.

Let’s not try to find an unbiased analysis in the American press. Unsurprisingly, CNN keeps explaining at length how Trump was acquitted, but that it is still over for him and he cannot return to the political stage.

The Wall Street Journal said that he cannot win another election, the country is past his presidency, and that it’s time for the Republican Party to admit this, too. Of course they are saying that. They have uncritically celebrated President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris as the world’s saviors. The Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung analyzed this using the perfect example, as it recalled when the media excused Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for narrating her terrifying experience without actually being inside the building where the protesters were.

Like it or not, it is too soon right now to dismiss Trump. More importantly, you cannot dismiss more than 70 million Trump voters. The Biden-supporting liberal elite will probably continue to refuse to be open to changing their views. If nothing changes, however, American society will split apart permanently.

The author is a senior staff member.