First, “Donald Trump: A Study in Leadership,” a brief video that contrasts Trump with other world leaders.
Ann Applebaum comments, “One knows, of course, that Donald Trump behaves differently from the leaders of other countries, especially the leaders of other Western democracies. One knows that he disdains facts; that he does not read briefing papers; that he has no organizational talents; that he does not know how to make use of militaries, bureaucracies, or diplomatic services; that he has no basic knowledge of history or science, let alone government.
But seeing him in this video, produced by my colleagues in Atlantic Studios, juxtaposed with other world leaders during this coronavirus pandemic comes, nevertheless, as a shock.”
Second, the views of a founding member of the Never Trump movement, Steve Schmidt:
“I think that what makes the country exceptional is that we’re made up of all the peoples of the world. We’re the only country in the history of the world that’s founded on the power of an idea. And that idea, though it was wrapped in injustice and hypocrisy, is that all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with inalienable rights. And over time that came to include African Americans, Hispanic Americans, women, gay men and women — and we still have work to do.
But that collection of people — Americans — we have fed more people, clothed more people, liberated more people, cured more people, and done more general good in the world than all the other countries of the world put together since the beginning of time.
And for the last 75 years, since the end of World War II, we’ve lived in an American era. It was a liberal, U.S.-led, liberal global world order that was architected in the mind of the twentieth century’s greatest president, FDR. It was built by Harry Truman. It was maintenanced from presidents between Eisenhower and Obama of both parties. And it has ended.
Donald Trump has been the worst president this country has ever had. And I don’t say that hyperbolically. He is.
But he is a consequential president. And he has brought this country in three short years to a place of weakness that is simply unimaginable if you were pondering where we are today from the day [when] Barack Obama left office. And there were a lot of us on that day who were deeply skeptical and very worried about what a Trump presidency would be.
But this is a moment of unparalleled national humiliation. Of weakness. When you listen to the President, these are the musings of an imbecile, an idiot. And I don’t use those words to name-call. I use them because they’re the precise words in the English language to describe his behavior, his comportment, his actions.
We’ve never seen a level of incompetence, a level of ineptitude so staggering on a daily basis by anybody in the history of the country who’s ever been charged with substantial responsibilities. It’s just astonishing that this man is the President of the United States.
The man, the con man from New York City — many bankruptcies, failed businesses, a reality show that branded him as something that he never was: a successful businessman.
Well, he’s the President of the United States now and the man who said that he would make the country great again. He’s brought death, suffering, and economic collapse on truly an epic scale.
And let’s be clear. This isn’t happening in every country around the world. This place, our place, our home, our country — the United States — we are the epicenter. We are the place where you’re most likely to die of this disease. We’re the ones with the most shattered economy.
And we are because of the fool that sits in the Oval Office behind the Resolute Desk.”
(Editor’s note: in a future post I intend to reference these remarks, which provide context and contrast for the discussion about whether or not Trump is a weak president.)
