Let's be clear: Donald Trump should never be president again. As awful as the assassination attempt on the Republican nominee this past weekend was — and as antithetical to the democratic process — it cannot shift our focus away from the stakes in the upcoming presidential election. If Trump is re-elected in November, he has promised to be a different kind of president, one who is unrestrained by the checks on power built into the American political system. His vision of America is one of conflict and carnage, much of it of his own making. Trump is a man unfit to lead, as the Times editorial board wrote last week. That is not simply an opinion of Trump's character held by his critics; it is a judgment of his presidency from those who know it best: the men and women whom he appointed to serve in the most important positions of his White House and who have since expressed grave doubts about his fitness for office. In numerous editorials about Trump and his campaign, the editorial board has urgently pointed to the danger posed by a second Trump presidency. It is core to why we believe President Biden should leave this race — there has been little evidence in polls, before or after the June debate, that a clear path to victory remains for Biden. Voters' concerns about the president's age and capability have only deepened. If they do nothing, Democrats are on the road to lose the White House this fall — and maybe the House and the Senate, too. Now is the moment. In raising this alarm, we have also sought to address the assumption that the United States would weather a second Trump presidency just as it got through the first one. Many voters believe Trump's policy proposals are important enough for the direction of the nation that they are willing to overlook the chaos he brings. Some political observers, voters and readers argue that our criticism of Trump is overstated; that he is all bluster, with few legislative accomplishments, or that his style of governing was too chaotic to be effective and therefore not to be taken seriously. That is a mistake. Look closely at his record — as we have done in a feature we're publishing online today — and the evidence of what Trump was able and willing to do as president is undeniable. Times Opinion reviewed the four years of the Trump administration and found dozens of examples of things Trump did or tried to do that had lasting damage or that could have had lasting damage if allowed to go unchecked. Americans protested, members of his administration blocked him, and in some cases Congress, the courts or other Republicans stopped him. Many of those guardrails — in Congress, courts and the Republican Party — are gone. And in a second term, Trump will do everything he can to remove any remaining obstacles by making it harder for those who oppose him to dissent, or by using the Justice Department to go after anyone he considers an enemy. Voters can still stop Trump. To persuade more Americans to see him clearly, it's important to see the Trump presidency for what it was. Here's what we're focusing on today:
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Thursday, July 18, 2024
Opinion Today: Trump’s record is an urgent warning
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