Don’t worry, the world won’t come to an end if Trump wins. Reagan got called the new Hitler…he ended up OK, says expert Freddy Gray
If Trump did try to cause carnage, the American system of government is designed to stop him, says Freddy Gray
THE whole world is bracing itself for an almighty panic if Donald Trump wins the presidency tonight.
If you thought the tantrum after the EU referendum was bad, brace yourself for much, much worse. It will be, as The Donald promised, “Brexit times ten”.
Everybody needs to grow up and calm down. Donald Trump is not the end of the free world. Yes, he’s a grotesque, orange loudmouth. Yes, his fans can be a bit nutty. But Trump isn’t a fascist — no matter how much his opponents insist otherwise.
He is, at best, a charlatan and at worst a con artist, and the greatest trick he has pulled off is convincing the people that he wants to Make America Great Again. He really only wants to satisfy his massive ego.
If he beats Clinton tonight, it’ll be mission accomplished. He’ll probably spend the next four years telling everyone how clever he is while his more sensible running mate, Mike Pence, carries the bags.
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The Donald is reportedly prepared to hand over many of his most pressing responsibilities to Pence, making him the “most powerful VP in history”.
So why worry? Even if Trump did try to cause carnage, the American system of government is designed to stop him.
The presidency has become a more powerful office in recent years but it is still answerable to the Senate, Congress and the Supreme Court.
Barack Obama’s ambitions were constantly held back by Republicans on Capitol Hill. His attempts to reform immigration, for instance, were shut down by the House.
Trump, a genuine outsider in Washington, would find Democrats and his own Republicans — many of whom despise him — queuing up to block his nastier ideas.
The proposed “temporary ban” on all Muslims entering the US will never be implemented. He has already quietly watered it down to target those from countries that have been a “major source for terrorists” after opposition from a number of senior Republicans, including House Speaker Paul Ryan.
Meanwhile, his much-dreaded plan to build a wall along the Mexican border would probably, like most State construction, be kicked into the bureaucratic long grass and forgotten.
Besides, is the wall really such an evil scheme? Trump’s idea is to sort out illegal immigration, a major problem in America. The wall would mean an immigration policy similar to Britain’s.
Some of his other proposals aren’t actually bad. For example, the plan to scrap Obama’s disastrous healthcare reforms — which have seen insurance premiums skyrocket — will save working Americans a fortune.
It’s worth remembering that when Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980, newspaper columnists compared him to Hitler. “The Gipper” went on to be one of the great Presidents. That’s not to say Trump is the heir to Reagan. But it suggests the freaking out is premature.
Of course, Trump’s failings have to be set against what his rival, Hillary Clinton, the more likely winner, will do.
Yes, she has more redeeming qualities. She’ll be hardworking and competent and be able to break the gridlock in Washington. She wants to tighten crazy gun laws and has an ambitious scheme to make university more affordable.
She’ll try to make life easier for blacks and Hispanics and she’ll show more respect than The Donald for international alliances, such as Nato. Better still, her election won’t trigger a financial collapse.
And then there are the buts . . .
Hillary will turn America into the biggest nanny state in the world. She will raise taxes to fund vanity projects and push to restrict free speech.
She and her husband Bill have far too much influence in Washington. That will only get worse.
She also has a record of starting wars and losing them, and has made threatening noises to Russia about its role in Syria. A Clinton presidency might mean the West has to face a showdown with Putin within months.
So if Trump doesn’t do it, after four years of Hillary the world might start wishing he had.
- Freddy Gray is deputy editor of The Spectator