Nate Wunderli ‘22
Sports Editor
Recently I came across an article that made it seem like a foregone conclusion that former President Trump is going to run again for the Republican nomination in 2024. While Trump has yet to fully commit to running, it seems apparent that if he feels he can win, he will indeed give it another shot. His popularity has only increased among Republicans since he left office. A recent poll says that 54 percent of Republicans would support him in a hypothetical 2024 primary, which is a return to pre-Capitol riot levels.[1] The share of GOP voters who say Trump should play a major role in the party is up 18 points to 59 percent since a similar survey on January 6-7, and the share of Republicans who think Trump is at least somewhat responsible for the attacks is down 14 points to 27 percent.[2] Even Mitt Romney, a vocal opponent of Trump, has admitted that if Trump were to run, he would probably win the nomination.
The Democrats, in their effort to erase Trump, have only added to his popularity and invigorated his base. By removing his Twitter and Facebook, they removed his ability to repeatedly shoot himself in the foot with nonsensical and aggressive tweets and posts. It also plays right into the notion that Democrats are trying to censor right-wing speech, an ongoing concern and rallying cry for many Republicans. One of the reasons hard-core Trump supporters are Trump supporters is because he gives them a voice when they previously felt they had none. He attacks their enemies, and he does so with no filter, to the astonishment of many more moderate and left-leaning voters. These hard-core supporters are not going to rescind their support when their enemies take away Trump’s Twitter account; if anything, they will double down. More moderate right-leaning voters can also take a break from Trump’s contradictory and inflammatory personality, and focus on Biden’s incompetency rather than Trump’s own character flaws.
Trump’s tweets have been reduced to a mere footnote in his presidency, as the right takes aim at the left. A common rhetoric is “yes, Trump sent mean tweets, but have you seen what Biden has done?!” But this misses the point. Trump’s mean tweets are exactly why he should be extricated from politics altogether. Well, the fact that he encouraged, or at least didn’t try to stop, a riot on the Capitol is another reason, as well as spinning an election fraud tale out of whole cloth. But even before any of this, Trump has divided us as families, as a nation, even as a law school. Politics, while always a touchy subject, is now utterly taboo unless you’re around other like-minded individuals. The fact that you can’t openly debate important issues in a forum such as a top-tier law school is a serious downside because there are plenty of important issues out there where two sides need to be considered. Instead, people are reduced to living in their own echo chamber, where they only hear from and talk to people that think like them. No one is forced to reconcile their beliefs with the opposite point of view, or with facts that may not be so favorable to their position. No one is learning how to have a mature conversation with someone that thinks differently from them. This is no small footnote to Trump’s legacy; this is Trump’s legacy.
There has always been division in this nation. People used to shoot each other in duels over disagreements. We had a Civil War. But Trump has used this division, stoked it, and poured gasoline on it to the point where the fire is burning out of control. He created a nation where tribalism reigns supreme, and one side does not even attempt to understand the concerns and problems of the other side. He has given power and a megaphone to others with similarly divisive tones, and when caught red-handed, he simply points to the other side and, like a child, chants “you started it.”
It is sad that in this country, with so many competent, smart, hard-working, kind, and humble people, we cannot seem to get someone in charge with any semblance of qualities that make a good leader. There are hundreds of people just in this law school alone that I would trust to lead this nation right now over Biden or Trump. People who are fearless and strong, yet also kind and understanding. People who are smart in their own right, yet also understand the importance of working with others and getting the best team possible around them. A leader who is respected by their peers, while also acting as a role model for the younger generation. These, along with others, are the qualities we are taught leaders should have, yet tragically feel we have to compromise on when the stakes are highest. As educated, elite law students, I believe that we have a duty and an opportunity to erase some of the damage done by politicians on both sides of the aisle and bring people together. While we may never get our first choice of President, we can influence our communities in ways that even the most powerful person on Earth cannot, becoming the leaders that can seem so few and far between in Congress and the White House.