George Epstein: Had Enough?

Roughly half of America’s voters have wanted Donald Trump to be president in each of the last three elections. Part of that is a function of the lousy Democratic candidates, but part must be that they wanted what President Trump was selling. Watching the news in recent days, it’s reasonable to ask if they are getting what they wanted. 

Perhaps they are good with the playground name-calling. Calling female reporters “piggy” or “ugly” or the Fed chair a “jerk.”  But were they OK with the pardoning of the Jan. 6 Capitol rioters? How about pardons for the Silk Road and Honduran president drug dealers and crypto money-launderers like the Binance guy? Perhaps voters still find Trump’s fantasies entertaining. The White House website now describes “orderly demonstrators” on Jan. 6 when Capitol police were “deliberately escalating tensions.” He was disappointed that he failed to have the National Guard seize voting machines in 2020. Does that make voters feel better about the 2026 election — let along the 2028?