During Friday night’s episode of HBO’s “Real Time,” New York Times columnist Bret Stephens reflected on the early months of President Trump’s second term, arguing that although the situation is troubling, it may actually be a positive development for the country.
Stephens told host Bill Maher that “I think that my summary of the first 100 days is that the bad news is, it’s the worst first 100 days in U.S. presidential history. I can’t think of a presidency that had it worse. But the good news, I think, for the country is it’s the worst first 100 days in the U.S. presidential history, for precisely the reason that you suggest, Bill, which is that, a lot of the country that voted for President Trump because they didn’t like the course of the country under his predecessor because they were mad, because they thought stuff needed to be broken up and disrupted are waking up to the reality of just how much worse it can get.”
He went on to say that “a lot of the country that voted for President Trump because they didn’t like the course of the country under his predecessor because they were mad, because they thought stuff needed to be broken up and disrupted are waking up to the reality of just how much worse it can get,” adding that if President Trump’s early days had gone more smoothly, it could have masked serious threats to basic legal and democratic norms. “If it had been a successful first 100 days, if it had been just a little less bad, people would say, well, what’s the problem if we’re not observing due process or what’s the problem if we’re defying the Supreme Court?”
Stephens continued, saying, “And I’m hearing from so many friends who voted for Trump, who remember the first Trump administration as being an era — at least until COVID — of prosperity and saying, hang on a second, 100% tariffs? I’m losing half of my workforce, I can’t afford things, the price of consumer goods is still going up, this is not what I voted for. And that’s a relief, because if it had been a successful first 100 days, if it had been just a little less bad, people would say, well, what’s the problem if we’re not observing due process or what’s the problem if we’re defying the Supreme Court? That would be even more worrisome than what we have now.”
{Matzav.com}