The excellent John Harris of Politico calls Trump an “authoritarian weakman” for his failure to amass and use extraordinary powers in the current crisis. I personally prefer the term “man on golf cart,” but the meaning is the same. Is he right?
Yes. I predicted this years ago when I posed the question about a man on horseback who couldn’t ride a horse. Being a successful strongman takes discipline, focus, and hard work. Trump is incapable of any of that; he just wants to spend his time in office rewarding himself and his friends, punishing his enemies, and soaking in public adulation.
Does that mean we can let our guard down? No, for two reasons. First, he is rotting the foundations of our system with his divisiveness, indifference to liberal democratic norms, and corruption; the next GOP president will undoubtedly be made of sterner stuff, and he may be able to destroy the system with one final shove. Second, Trump is going to get more desperate as the election gets closer. The prospect of defeat could drive him from being a dictator on Twitter to the real thing, particularly if the emergency continues. Stay tuned.