As repugnant and repulsive as the thought rings in my noggin, I feel the need to ponder what we might expect from a second presidential term of Donald J. Trump.
To my way of thinking, it would be far uglier than what we’ve seen already.
An impeached president might even more dangerous than we imagined. Trump is likely to survive the House of Representatives impeachment of him on grounds of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The Senate trial that will commence eventually is likely to clear him of conviction. I hesitate to call it an “acquittal,” as I am waiting to see what the final count would be; there does remain a chance that at least some Republican senators might vote to convict Trump, possibly pushing the total to a simple majority to convict him, but not enough to remove him from office.
If that’s to become a reality, Democrats then have the task of defeating this guy at the ballot box in November 2020. It ain’t a done deal, folks.
The RealClearPolitics poll average puts Trump’s approval rating today at 44.4 percent. The GOP base will be energized. Democrats then must figure out who among them is capable of beating this guy. If they don’t beat him, then we’ll get him for four more years.
Oh, joy!
A second-term of Donald Trump will enable him to take the gloves off. Whatever he has said about his foes to date will pale in comparison to what will fly off his Twitter account. He might get to nominate another Supreme Court justice or two; think of that one for a moment.
There will be more hectoring of our allies. He’ll keep insisting that “Mexico will pay for The Wall” when in fact Mexico won’t shell out a nickel. The president will continue to launch trade battles, sending the markets into spasms of uncertainty.
Will he fill the empty seats in the Cabinet with competent individuals? Hah! He’ll find more sycophants who are unafraid to challenge him at any level.
I feel reasonably certain there will be more questions raised about whether Trump is profiting off his public office. There will be questions, too, about ongoing foreign interference in our electoral cycles. We’ll have another midterm election in 2022 and, oh yes, we’ll elect a new president in 2024. What will the current president do to terminate Russian interference?
Yep, it certainly makes me shudder to think of a second Trump term.
But let’s get real. Who would have thought this guy would have been elected in the first place?