As I’ve discussed before, it’s possible for the Democrats to beat Donald Trump the wrong way in 2020. What do I mean by the “wrong way”? I am thinking in particular of a victory based on a political strategy, both electoral and legislative, of trying to go back to some “normal” pre-Trump time that never existed, and that fails to address the root causes that have led to the rise of Trumpism to begin with, particularly massive inequality, systematic racism, and anti-democratic aspects of American government and politics. Such a pyrrhic victory would also involve the Democrats failing to make clear that their larger objection is not to Trump but to Trumpism, the authoritarian and white nationalist mindset that now has nearly the entire GOP in its grip.
The form of a healthy Democratic critique, and a positive alternative vision for the United States, can certainly take a range of forms — forms that we see being debated right now by the Democratic candidates for president. Even as centrist a figure as Joe Biden is talking about fairly substantial progressive programs that would represent a move left from the Obama administration.
But as crucial as a vision for the future is for pulling ourselves clear of the cesspool of Trumpism, the Democrats would be foolish and self-defeating if they failed to offer a sustained critique and investigation of what this country has gone through during the Trump administration. It’s been a time of massive disinformation from the heights of government; of betrayal of the people’s interest in favor of unfriendly or hostile foreign governments; of human rights abuses that have done great harm to thousands of immigrant families and individuals; of a presidency run like a crime family as Donald Trump sought to kneecap political rivals and subvert the 2020 election; of a sustained anti-democratic assault on facts and the very idea of truth.
We can allow none of this abominable history to be swept under the rug, or to let either the Trump administration or the GOP at large off the hook for their assault on American democracy. We cannot move on, or work effectively to prevent a recurrence of these nightmarish years, without a full accounting and airing of what has happened.
It seems to me that there should be two major thrusts. The first should target the crime and corruption of the Trump administration. I had initially been thinking that this would primarily be done via open-ended congressional investigations, but in the last several days, Elizabeth Warren has announced plans to involve the executive branch in exposing Trump administration corruption. According to the Boston Globe, Warren would direct “the Justice Department to appoint an independent task force to investigate corruption that took place during the Trump administration,” which would “investigate Trump administration officials for potential violations of federal bribery and insider trading laws.” The Globe also reports that Warren says she “won’t hesitate to use her for-cause removal authority for heads of independent agencies who neglect their duties or engage in malfeasance while in office.”
This is exactly the sort of aggressive action against the Trump administration that Democrats should embrace. They must not falter in the face of accusations that they are seeking payback or doing something unprecedented. What is actually unprecedented is the corruption of this administration, its utter contempt for the safety and welfare of the American people, its lack of even the haziest notion of serving the public good rather than the private interest of the president and his henchmen. This is a case where principle and political interest align for the Democrats.
Investigations of the Trump administration’s malfeasance will undoubtedly produce a stream of revelations and evidence that will easily counter accusations that Democrats are seeking payback. Indeed, likely cries of foul by defenders of Trump would only highlight the extent of their corruption, easily folding into a narrative that the Trump administration considered itself above the law. The Democratic Party should use a dedication to rooting out corruption as proof of its fundamental difference from the GOP: that it believes in the rule of law, in facts, in truth, in the public interest. The Democrats should not be afraid of being accused of playing politics, when those accusations are rooted in the basic fact that the Democrats are acting in the public interest and as a scourge to Trump administration corruption.
But beyond the need for sustained investigations that steadily expose and discredit the Trump administration and its allies, Democrats need to engage in a broader political and cultural investigation, of how our country got to this point where we teeter on the edge of being ruled by authoritarian ethno-nationalists, as if were were Turkey or Hungary and not the greatest democracy in the world. Something has gone terribly wrong, and a public airing and discussion is badly needed. Let both parties bring in experts and witnesses. In the full light of day, let the Republicans make the public case for why gerrymandering is good and immigration is bad, why voter suppression is permissible, why the president should have the powers of a king, and why massive inequality in wealth is simply evidence of god’s will. Let’s hear from people who are convinced their jobs have been stolen by immigrants and who see their status and power in American society diminishing.
But let’s also hear from African-Americans who can speak of their frustration and anger at continuing to face discrimination and state violence 150 years after slavery ended; from immigrants who help the economy hum along; from middle-class Americans in liberal cities who help build their communities and are married to immigrants and have gay children; from women whose career prospects have been derailed by sexism in the workplace; from small business owners hobbled by oligopolies like Amazon. We need to use politics to work through our differences — but not just via the conflict of elections, but by bringing the full mechanisms of governance to bear, in the form of hearings that facilitate discussion, promote facts over fear, and undermine right-wing tendencies toward dehumanization, propaganda, racism, and destructive nationalism that have been turning our politics into a zero-sum, undemocratic horror show.