You’re probably aware of the ongoing debate about Trump and his authoritarian impulses. Some people find him a danger to the country; others think he’s too lazy and slipshod to really threaten our institutions. To me, the two are not mutually exclusive; the real test will come when we face a genuine national crisis, such as a war or a massive terrorist attack.
What’s beyond debate is that he is destroying the public’s faith in institutions which should be, and always have been, nonpartisan. The judicial system, the MSM, the CIA, the FBI, the DOJ–even the NFL–have come under fire, and Republicans no longer believe in them. That’s purely on Trump: he didn’t create the blue/red divide in our country, but he makes it worse every day, and no one ever dreamed of taking on the FBI until now.
The first job of the next president is going to be to restore morale within the government and trust outside it.