Trump Going His Own Way, Not His Country’s Way: US Analyst

“We’re living in a very warped picture of typical status quo America where everything has either been turned around or exposed. The president, once respected world-wide, is a joke to all other world leaders and a majority of the world’s population. He is seen as completely out of his league but still dangerous enough to both go his own way, not his country’s way, and still be controlled by forces stronger than him. Why else would he buddy up with Kim Jong-il one moment yet do the State and Defense Departments bidding by bombing Iranian allies within Iraq?", Myles Hoenig, who ran for the US Congress in 2016 as a Green Party candidate, told Tasnim.

Following is the full text of the interview.

Tasnim: Recently, US President Donald Trump said he “did not really care” about a trial in the US Senate following his impeachment by the House of Representatives, but he would be happy to have a trial. What are your thoughts on the comments?

Hoenig: It really doesn’t matter at this point whether or not Trump wants a trial or even if Pelosi is interested in passing it over to the Senate for a trial. These last 3+ years has been a political 3-ring circus where the MC has been from the old school where there’s a sucker born every minute.

We’re living in a very warped picture of typical status quo America where everything has either been turned around or exposed. The president, once respected world-wide, is a joke to all other world leaders and a majority of the world’s population. He is seen as completely out of his league but still dangerous enough to both go his own way, not his country’s way, and still be controlled by forces stronger than him. Why else would he buddy up with Kim Jong-il one moment yet do the State and Defense Departments bidding by bombing Iranian allies within Iraq?

What has been exposed, thanks much to Donald Trump, is the incessant racism and class divisions, as well as class exploitation, that has long endured in the US. Many of the very people with the pitchforks out are those who are most hurt by the Trumps of the world, destroying their hopes of a decent middle-class lifestyle yet giving them the raw meat to make them forget, or even forgive, the crimes being committed against them. With Obama and all presidents before him, American exceptionalism was the diet, but Trump’s raw meat is outright hostility towards minority groups and the Democratic Party, ironic being that the two main parties are essentially actors on behalf of Wall Street. They just exploit the middle and working classes in different ways.

What does matter in Trump’s impeachment, trial or not, is how history will view it, as there is no objective analysis at work at present. Nixon was resurrected by the press for his foreign policy advancements and even compared to many of the Democrats who are running today who are to Nixon’s Right. Everyone loved Reagan, especially Democratic party operatives who cried crocodile tears for the cameras and future funders when he died. But how historians and others will view Trump in decades to come is an open book.

Tasnim: Trump and his Republican allies have attacked the impeachment effort as “illegitimate”. In their articles of impeachment, Democrats say that Trump abused his power as president by pressuring Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to help him win re-election. Democrats also charge Trump with obstructing the Congress. What do you think?

Hoenig: This is likely the first time in recent memory in which the charge of illegitimacy is thrown out when there happens to be a political issue or strategy at play. There is nothing illegitimate about impeachment, as it is the attempted removal of a president through political, not legal, means. But if the president can scream it long and loud enough, it certainly beefs up his base’s animus for all who oppose their chosen one.
What Trump did regarding Zelensky goes beyond the normal blackmail, extortion and threats that all presidents apply to other presidents weaker than them. This time Trump delved right into electoral politics, something almost like a third rail. Simply receiving campaign contributions is strictly forbidden and asking a president of another country to give him an edge in an election seems far worse. That’s also not to say it doesn’t happen as the visit by Netanyahu of Israel during an election period to oppose the Iran nuclear deal was an outright abuse of power on behalf of the Republicans who invited him to speak on the matter.

Trump’s obstruction of Congress is also quite obvious but could have been mitigated if the democratically controlled Congress waited it out. But again, impeachment is a political process and waiting it out was not a political option for them.

Tasnim: Trump’s re-election campaign manager claimed the $46m raised in the last quarter was boosted by a surge of donations in the wake of the impeachment. Tulsi Gabbard also said recently that impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump will increase the chances of a comprehensive Republican victory in the 2020 election. Do you believe so?

Hoenig: Impeachment can be a two-edged sword. People look at how Clinton not only survived but his party prospered as a result of his impeachment. However, Nixon’s near-impeachment worked against his party, as Jimmy Carter succeeded Nixon’s replacement and people talked of how long it would take for the Republicans to recover. In actuality, it was only 4 years.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that the Trump campaign raised so much money as a result of the impeachment. Impeachment is a winning issue- for both sides when it comes to fundraising. It can be either ‘they are against us’ or ‘look how we followed through on our Constitutional obligations in spite of the potential political risk’.

No one can say how it will play out as this is such a rare occurrence. Just like billions of dollars are spent on presidential elections but one side will lose. So much for billions of dollars at play. The more likely scenario of a near-guarantee of a Trump victory is dependent upon whom the Democrats select to go up against him. The two extreme scenarios is Biden, almost a guarantee loss or Sanders, a more likely victory, with all other candidates not having the muscle to withstand the more effective onslaught of Republican campaign strategies.