A More Measured Trump Not Possible – Part 2

Can it be acknowledged that oftentimes a leader’s greatest strength can also be his or her greatest weakness? Let’s see, but please don’t think I’m comparing leaders based on their moral behavior with these examples.

David was a great king; his passion and love for his God were unequalled. He was called a “man after God’s own heart.” That’s about as high a compliment as one can receive. However, David’s passion for life also led him astray – to a passionate affair with the wife of one his most able and loyal warriors. To make things worse, David arranged to get the cuckolded husband out of the way by sending him to the front lines of battle, where, surely enough, he was killed. Should David have been “impeached” or otherwise run out of the country for what he did? Maybe. However, once the prophet Nathan confronted him about his terrible behavior, David expressed deep remorse for what he had done, and certainly suffered the consequences of his bad behavior.

Perhaps the greatest strength of President Trump is his uncanny ability to shrug off all the efforts of the left to malign, prosecute, and otherwise defame him, including his “fight” reaction to the assassination attempt that could easily have killed him. Trump supporters greatly admire his guts in continuing to unapologetically fight for American interests and not care one iota what his opponents think or say about him. Yes, he may respond with insults, but this doesn’t throw him off course from what he wants to accomplish. 

However, Trump’s strength is arguably mirrored by an equal and opposite weakness – his almost total lack of self-awareness that, ironically enough, makes for a Teflon coating when it comes to the slings and arrows of his opponents affecting his course of action. Unfortunately, this lack also makes for countless negative sound bites that his opponents have used to make him seem dictatorial and otherwise unsavory or uncaring. Whether Trump has anyone in his inner circle who actually challenges him, sometimes the impression one gets, especially if they don’t like Trump to begin with, is that he surrounds himself with boot-licking sycophants who only tell him what he wants to hear. And that, in turn, allows him to keep on like the Energizer Bunny, oblivious to the china breakage that ensues.

Let’s focus on one recent example that displays both Trump’s strength and weakness. While the left grapples with the daily Graham Platner controversies, they can, at the same time, point to Trump’s endorsement of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for the U.S. Senate as their version of moral equivalency. That is, while numerous examples of Platner’s moral failings are in the news, to the Dems they are no worse than allegations of Paxton’s marital infidelity and political machinations that led him to be impeached (although not convicted) by a legislature with a Republican majority. One can argue that Trump, in endorsing Paxton, is sticking his neck out for a pro-MAGA candidate who will be a better Senator for Texas and the country than the incumbent, sometimes squishy John Cornyn. However, one can also argue that Trump, knowing of Paxton’s baggage, should have steered clear of an endorsement and allowed Texans to choose their candidate without his imprimatur.

Given Trump’s sometimes adolescent-type behavior, he can be likened to the high school kid who had no filter and was constantly the butt of ridicule. The difference is in the stakes. The adolescent kid might pick a fight with one of his tormentors and lose. A president, however, has an agenda of very important issues and a legacy to protect, and therefore, he can’t afford to use up his political capital trading insults with his opponents. 

There’s a reason that several entertainers have backed out of performing at the White House-sponsored 250^th anniversary celebration of American independence. Although we can’t be sure what the reason is, it’s hard not to imagine that the president’s increasing unpopularity has something to do with it, along with perhaps some arm-twisting from leftist influencers. Here again, Trump’s alternative of having a massive “rally” in place of the planned concert shows a tone-deafness in failing to recognize that a large portion of America will see the rally as simply another divisive “MAGA” event. Whatever ends up as America’s birthday bash, every effort should be made to make it welcoming for all Americans, realizing that in the current climate, that’s a tall order. 

The question remains, how much trouble remains for Trump because of his weakness getting in the way of his strength?