What would a "successful" Trump presidency have looked like? An alternate universe

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Trump believed his base wouldn't let him be a normal president. That's not true: The failure was his alone

By Bob Cesca
December 1, 2020 1:00PM (UTC)

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Due to a laundry list of character flaws, mental illnesses and the blindingly obvious trappings of his "brand," Trump was only ever going to be a failed poseur president at best, beloved by no one but similarly damaged, similarly uneducated, similarly aggrieved, similarly pitiable Americans. His myriad personal glitches have been collectively amplified by his fanboys and therefore worsened through their misguided and unsubstantiated adulation — positive reinforcement for his worst traits — rendering him completely trapped by his own reputation, blinded to what was a relatively easy path to success and a second term.

For years, certain members of the cable news media eagerly anticipated a Trump pivot to being more "presidential." Talkers like Van Jones seemed desperately spring-loaded to crown Trump as finally having grown into the gig, but had they actually paid attention to who Trump was and is, they never would have assumed he was capable of such a transition.

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In his final year, Trump faced his "Cuban Missile Crisis test" and failed it catastrophically, infecting himself in the process. Again, he could have succeeded if he were capable of adjusting to reality, but he's not.

Trump, along with everyone who enabled his worst instincts, is why he'll be a private citizen again in 49 days. Full stop. Trump is why Trump will be remembered by history as apocalyptically bad at his job, sparking myriad long-term fiascos that we're only beginning to understand. It didn't have to be this way. Americans typically want their presidents to succeed, and history shows we have a penchant for two-termers. But it's far too late for Trump, who made it impossible for Americans even to tolerate him, much less like him. Now history will have its way with him — and his legacy won't look anything like he wants it to look.

https://www.salon.com/2020/12/01/what-would-a-successful-trump-presidency-have-looked-like-an-alternate-universe/

[NRaleighLiberal]

1. A Hillary presidency....because she did win.

Why even waste space talking about trump any longer? The media needs to seek help to get over him

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4. Because we can't ignore the incalcuable damage he's done. If we "forget" him and stop

writing the truth of the last four years, then revisionists will step in and attempt to downplay and normalize this horror show. The outrages must be detailed and on the record. This cannot be allowed to happen again.

[patricia92243]

2. This is a really good post. Trump could have been a hero during

the pandemic; instead he chose to be a chump. Lots of lost opportunities for Trump, but he just cannot overcome being himself.

[SharonClark]

6. That about sums it up.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

3. If Trump had tracked and adjusted at least a little like George W. Bush did after 9/11

and sought and promoted unity against COVID and encouraged *responsible* public health measures, I think that he could have been more successful and could *really* have gotten a second term. His biggest enemy, though, has always been himself and his inability to restrain himself from acting on his worst impulses.

[FoxNewsSucks]

5. I would say the tRump reign was, in fact, successful.

If you look at it from the standpoint of "Who is he working for, and what do they want to accomplish?", they got nearly everything.

People who think tRump and the republicons are working for us are WRONG. They work for billionaires, corporations, and whatever foreign despots have control of them.

While MF45 was making a spectacle that took up all the attention, they got:
-Tax cuts
-Subsidies and corporate bailouts
-Weakened regulations and protections FROM the people instead of protections FOR the people
-A packed far-right court system
-A gutted federal system
-A cult following to support them and cause endless problems and headache for Democrats

And possibly, they might have a useful scapegoat if needed, with the possibility of turning on useful idiot MF45 and piling the blame on him.

[Doodley]

7. A successful Trump presidency would have looked like this: Breaking News. Reports are coming in

that the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, has taken his own life, just moments after his inauguration.