POLITICS: Lawfare and nonstop smears from Democrats only contributed to Trump’s triumph

If Democrats honestly sort through the debris of the election, they will find a slew of key issues where they were far out of step with voters.

Their misguided economic policies led to sky-high inflation, they opened the border to millions of unvetted illegal migrants and adopted a radical approach to cultural issues, all of which Donald Trump seized on in his commanding victory. 

It certainly didn’t help that Dems fielded two weak candidates, starting with President Biden. His cognitive decline, which the party tried to hide, led leaders to belatedly give him the hook, and Kamala Harris, despite spending nearly $2 billion, was mercilessly exposed as lacking the right stuff for the Oval Office. 

These policy and personnel issues obviously contributed to the result, and some Dems, however grudgingly, are starting to come to grips with them. 

But there is another dimension to the race that helps explain Trump’s triumph, and I don’t believe any Dem dares to touch it, at least yet.

These issues revolve around the party’s decision to launch a personal war against the Republican, which featured nonstop charges that he was a racist, a fascist and a wannabe Hitler. 

It was created out of whole cloth and was despicable, and it was only part of the assault. The other part was the decision to weaponize the Department of Justice and state prosecutors to knock Trump out of the race by bringing a slew of criminal charges and civil suits. 

No former president had ever been charged with a single crime, but Dems went full jihad and charged him with a total of 94 felonies in four different federal and state cases. 

Relentless lawfare 

There was also an effort to bankrupt him in New York and a plot to ban him from the ballot in a dozen blue states, a disgraceful bid that would have deprived voters of choice. 

Thankfully, the Supreme Court stopped it. 

Displaying not an iota of shame, the activist Dems carrying out these unprecedented assaults routinely accused Trump of being a threat to democracy. It was one of the greatest cons of all time. 

Still, there is a lesson in defeat if the Dems have the courage and decency to learn it. 

Although it is fair to say that Trump won despite this unprecedented raft of dirty tricks, it is more accurate to say that he won because of them.

Polling showed that each new indictment boosted his support as the attempt to destroy him with flimsy charges backfired. 

His conviction in the only criminal case to come to trial, the Manhattan bookkeeping saga, was such an egregious miscarriage of justice that many legal experts, including some who intensely dislike Trump, said the case should not have been brought. 

I agree, and hope the judge overseeing it, acting Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, finally gets the point and dismisses the case before Trump takes office.

To leave it hanging over Trump for the next four years would be the height of injustice, demean the presidency and bring further shame to New York’s politicized courts. 

Although there is no evidence leading Dems are ready to admit the effort to “otherize” Trump was a main reason for defeat, there is a noteworthy change. All the claims that Trump would be the next Hitler have suddenly vanished. 

The outrageous charge, including from Biden, that a Trump victory would mark the last election in American history is no longer mentioned. 

Fascist fairytales 

Armageddon apparently has been postponed. 

Take former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, who insisted that Trump is “fascist to the core” and “the most dangerous person in the country.” 

But last week, Milley was singing a very different tune, declaring “America’s going to be OK.” 

“There is a lot of waves out there,” Milley continued, “but this is a big, strong country, 380 million people. Great institutions, great people, great workforce, and a great younger cohort of people that are gonna protect America.” 

Biden himself has come a long way. Before the 2022 midterms, he set the stage for the party’s scare tactics at a garish red Independence Hall in Philadelphia, where he called Trump and his supporters a “threat to our country” who “represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.” 

Yet two days after the presidential election, Biden admitted that “The American experiment endures, and we’re going to be OK.” 

He invited Trump to the White House where, before the assembled press, he smiled, stuck out his hand and said, “Welcome back.” 

Perhaps we’ll hear a similar climb-down from retired Gen. John Kelly, the Trump-hating former chief of staff who tried to become the October surprise by telling The Atlantic magazine that Trump said “I need the kind of generals that Hitler had” and that Trump fits “the general definition of fascist.” 

Harris, searching for a political kill shot, seized on Kelly’s claim to declare that “voters don’t want a president of the United States who admires dictators and is a fascist.” 

Will Harris recant when, or if, she returns to the White House from a vacation in Hawaii? 

Kelly’s claim gave the media a week of feverish headlines, and a chance to pretend they were engaged in serious inquiry about how bad a second Trump term would be. 

“What is fascism? And why does Harris say Trump is a fascist?” asked the biased Associated Press, being careful to use the word as many times as possible. 

All an act on MSNBC 

None of it worked, and references to Hitler and fascism also have disappeared from the media. 

Two of the most persistent purveyors, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski of MSNBC, even went to meet Trump at Mar-a-Lago, saying it was an attempt to “reopen” lines of communication. 

But as Jon Stewart reminded them, “you said he was Hitler.” 

Stewart is on to something — how could anyone visit with Trump if they really thought he is Hitler? 

The question answers itself: Scarborough and his ilk never actually believed what they were saying. It was all just a talking point, one aimed at covering up the deficiencies of Biden and Harris. 

Even allowing that politics ain’t beanbag, what the Dems and the propaganda media did had serious consequences. Those who made the comparisons to Hitler and Nazism bear responsibility for the spate of assassination attempts and plots against Trump. 

Recall that just days before the Pennsylvania attempt, where the former president was wounded, Biden said “it’s time to put Trump in a bullseye.” 

After the attempt, Biden said he shouldn’t have said it. 

But what about the lawfare assault, which was cheered by Dems and most media. Did they believe any of that? 

Not for a minute. 

Beyond being justified on policy grounds, Trump’s victory is the right outcome for anyone who values fair play and respect for American history. 

He heroically fought a corrupt empire and voters rewarded him. 

So raise a glass to his glorious triumph, one that will be a lesson for the ages.