Praising Trump Through Clenched Teeth

Recently, Peter Smith wrote of Donald Trump and listed the many significant achievements of the 45th, and possibly 47th, US President. Peter is one of the few conservative commentators  able to recognise Trump’s virtues and achievements and abhor the attacks that have been made on him – two assassination attempts, multiple spurious court cases, and two failed impeachments – without adding a mealy-mouthed, arse-covering disclaimer noting that Trump is a thoroughly despicable and vulgar lout, or words to that effect.

A prime example of this genre is Greg Sheridan, pretty sound on most things.  But in the case of Trump, he has written numerous articles in the past year or so, many of which acknowledge both Trump’s achievements and the unjustifified attacks upon him. He has an article in The Australian on September 17 headlined “Harris’s lies fuel toxic mix of hate and chaos in the US election”.  which is undeniable. However, sprinkled throughout the article are the following comments (my emphasis):

But Democrats, including Harris, routinely tell the most appalling, extremist lies about Trump. This is doubly weird because there’s more than ample in Trump’s actual words and actions that thoroughly deserve criticism. Mostly, Trump is a brash, crude, often offensive and even chaotic politician. He’s not the author of American fascism, the new Hitler, the leader of anti-democratic storm troopers. The dishonest extremism of much of the criticism of Trump contributes at least as much, perhaps more, to the toxic nature of American political and cultural debate as does Trump himself.

Trump’s most serious transgression, his behaviour during the January 6 riots, is partly mitigated by the fact he told his supporters to demonstrate “peacefully”. Trump’s behaviour was nonetheless grossly offensive; it doesn’t make him Hitler.

Harris’s personal attacks on Trump contain fantastic and extreme lies. Because Trump himself often says such hateful and untrue things about other people, unless you’re a Trump partisan, which I certainly am not, you’re not much inclined to defend him on personal issues.

Again, in this claim Harris has dishonestly alleged that Trump supports neo-Nazis. Trump does many dishonourable things that rightly deserve criticism. He has not, however, as Harris claims, supported neo-Nazis, or called for mass killings if he should lose the election.

If you constantly present them with false facts, which purport to show not that Trump is a grubby and unreliable politician, but that he is an American Hitler in waiting, this can easily fertilise … the idea that it would be better if he were just taken out altogether.

Trump’s erratic, changeable and unreliable rhetoric make it difficult to judge how he would govern. But there is the first Trump term. It’s perfectly legitimate for voters, and indeed allies, to look to actual experience. Economically and in foreign policy, there’s a strong case that Trump’s term was better than Joe Biden’s has been.

In many ways Trump is unattractive, but his courage in the face of all the threats against him is highly laudable. So is his desire to keep mixing with the public, keep doing big rallies. The Biden administration should not force Trump indoors for his own safety, which would diminish US democracy. It should instead give him the same level of Secret Service protection as the President himself enjoys. For all his failings, Trump’s personal courage is a significant asset for US democracy.

This is the tenor of every article Sheridan writes about Trump.  I almost always post a comment along beneath his columns and here’s my latest: “Why is Trump terrifying, Greg?  You have frequently noted the many achievements of his first presidency in the face of concerted opposition from the moment of his election.  We know America did well under that presidency.  And yet apart from his lies and personal traits that you frequently tell us about, I can’t recall you detailing a single policy disaster (as opposed to a mistake) on his watch.  For example,  you may think tariffs are a bad idea but they are not the product of a dysfunctional President.”

Of course, I never get a response, so I thought I’d check on all these ‘hateful’ things Trump is alleged to say about others. I found a website that contains what must be the most exhaustive list of Trump quotes.  There are thousands of them, and I could only scratch the surface, but I struggled to find anything that would justify the reputation with which Sheridan saddles him.  Sure, there are a few off-colour remarks, a lot of hyperbole and political rhetoric, but nowhere near enough personal abuse or invective that I could find that to justify a reputation that puts Trump in a league of nastiness that, say, Paul Keating, inhabits.

Have a look for yourself.  If you can come up with anything that would justify Sheridan’s position, please let me know in the comments below.