How do you solve a problem like The Donald?
by Tom Sullivan
Sky News had a bit of fun publicizing Donald Trump's visit to the United Kingdom that begins Monday:
London mayor Sadiq Khan does not think Trump is a joke. In a blistering editorial, Khan blasts the American president's visit.
Praising white supremacists, threatening to veto banning rape in warfare, separating migrant children from parents, deploying "xenophobia, racism and 'otherness'” to win votes, and a Muslim travel ban. Added to Trump lying like sailors reputedly swear, these are the actions of dictators from the 1930s and 40s, Khan writes:
Donald Trump is just one of the most egregious examples of a growing global threat. The far right is on the rise around the world, threatening our hard-won rights and freedoms and the values that have defined our liberal, democratic societies for more than seventy years. Viktor Orbán in Hungary, Matteo Salvini in Italy, Marine Le Pen in France and Nigel Farage here in the UK are using the same divisive tropes of the fascists of the 20th century to garner support, but are using new sinister methods to deliver their message. And they are gaining ground and winning power and influence in places that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.
They are intentionally pitting their own citizens against one another, regardless of the horrific impact in our communities. They are picking on minority groups and the marginalised to manufacture an enemy – and encouraging others to do the same. And they are constructing lies to stoke up fear and to attack the fundamental pillars of a healthy democracy – equality under the law, the freedom of the press and an independent justice system. Trump is seen as a figurehead of this global far-right movement. Through his words and actions, he has given comfort to far-right political leaders, and it’s no coincidence that his former campaign manager, Steve Bannon, has been touring the world, spreading hateful views and bolstering the far right wherever he goes.
When Khan mentions him in the same breath as Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un, Trump is probably flattered.
Khan urges outgoing prime minister Theresa May to publicly declare Trump’s views "incompatible with British values." Trump's behavior refutes everything the U.S.A. purportedly stands for, Khan laments, and values for which the two allies fought for decades to defend. Yet, on the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion launched to quash fascism's march across 20th century Europe, England is preparing a red-carpet welcome for a 21st century American fascist.
Khan's frustration with his government is palpable on this side of the Atlantic among Democrats with theirs. As support builds among House Democrats for opening a formal impeachment inquiry, Speaker Nancy Pelosi seems determined to slow-walk the effort either until public support exists for it or until congressional campaign season makes launching it impractical for Democrats trying to hold onto their seats.
So, MSNBC's Donny Deutsch on Friday offered some branding advice Democrats likely won't heed, "You take the word 'impeachment' and you change it to 'criminal activity.'"
Robert Mueller presented 10 different ways in which Trump clearly obstructed Justice, Deutsch says. Trump is already an unindicted co-conspirator in the New York campaign finance case. Democrats are pursuing Trump's taxes to look for foreign influence, money laundering, and tax evasion.
Democrats need to initiate ongoing, "Trump criminal investigations," Deutsch suggests. "Trump. Criminal." Brand him. "You make Trump say, 'I'm not a criminal,'" Deutsch argues. Drop "impeachment." It's a loser.
Deutsch might be onto something. Pelosi argues it's the investigations that count (for building public support), not what we call them. Others seem to want the emotional satisfaction of attaching "impeachment" to Donald Trump. (He certainly gets emotional about it.)
But this administration led by a wannabe crime boss has stepped over the line into open defiance of the law. Insisting the "additional authorities" of a formal impeachment inquiry will produce compliance is to believe Trump will buckle to a double-dog dare. I have argued it is ludicrous to believe norms that would bring another president to heel have little power here. If Democrats open an impeachment inquiry, they need no other rationale than Trump is already in open defiance of the law. Period.
That is Deutsch's point. This is a dog fight. Conventional tactics do not apply. As the LA Times' Virginia Heffernan suggested Saturday, before he can be indicted in the House, Trump has to be convicted in the court of public opinion. With video, perhaps.
But Democrats are rank amateurs playing against professional smear merchants. They need to hire professionals. And not their friends from Beltway consultancies, either. Brand him. Make his administration, his name, and Trump Organization properties even more toxic than they are now. Make his ratings suffer.
