The Daily Signal - Victor Davis Hanson: Trump’s Not An Autocrat. He’s Following the Precedents Set By Obama, Biden

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Starting point is 00:00:25 We'd love to talk. Business. I usually don't give advice to Donald Trump, who knows much more about politics, obviously, than most of us. But I think he could use maybe a suggestion on messaging. He's getting attacked by the left for autocratic use of presidential powers. He's dictatorial. Donald Trump, I think, could remind people that he's just following the precedence that he inherited. Barack Obama issued about 260 executive orders.

Starting point is 00:00:54 He said, I have a phone and I have a pen, and I'm going to bypass Congress. Barack Obama deported more people than any other prior president. In 2016, Barack Obama bombed seven different countries. 26,000 bombs he released. Again, without congressional authorization. All he has to say is he's doing nothing, nothing, a historical or unprecedented. Hello, this is Victor Davis Hanson for the Daily Signal.

Starting point is 00:01:32 I usually don't give advice to Donald Trump, who knows much more about politics, obviously, than most of us. But I think he could use maybe a suggestion on messaging. He's getting attacked by the left for autocratic use of presidential powers, he's dictatorial. You'd almost forget that the left and the Biden administration in particular through five criminal and civil courtrooms, find him over $400 million, coordinated those legal harassments and indicted him for 93 felonies, tried to destroy not just his candidacy, but his person to bankrupt him and to jail him. You would have forgotten that 25 states tried to take Donald Trump off the ballot. Nobody had ever done that before. Nobody had ever impeached a president

Starting point is 00:02:26 twice. Nobody had ever tried a president, probably unconstitutionally, as a private citizen in the Senate. when he had already left office. No presidential candidate had been the subject of two ex-presidential assassination attempts. No ex-president ever had his home raided by the FBI. So we've forgotten all this and said we're supposed to think that Donald Trump is acting extra constitutionally. But Donald Trump, I think, could remind people that he's just following the precedents

Starting point is 00:03:03 that he inherited. I'll give you a few examples. So they're saying he's deporting, deporting, deporting, deporting people. Well, Barack Obama deported more people in his tenure than any other prior president, 2.5 million. And he focused on criminal aliens. He said so, just like Donald Trump did. And as far as cages and detention centers, Obama created them. So Trump just said, I'm just following the president of Obama.

Starting point is 00:03:30 They're talking about extra powers of the president to harass people. Donald Trump had two members of his administration, Steve Bannon in the first term, and Peter Navarro, his trade advisor, who were subpoenaed by Congress, and they felt for no other reason but harassment in connection with January 6th, and they didn't show up. And they tried to negotiate with Congress, and Congress jailed them. They in Fort, Merrick Garland was also subpoenaed by Congress, remember, and he just refused, and there were no consequences. Eric Holder was subpoenaed by Congress. There was no, and he refused. And so Donald Trump should say if anybody wants to be subpoenaed from the Biden administration, we're just following his example.

Starting point is 00:04:18 We don't really know what the rules are. He should also say that he didn't really know what the rules were about using presidential power. bombing. He was in enemy airspace for about 30 minutes, and it was a successful strike to neutralize and put out of commission the Iranian nuclear infrastructure. Almost immediately, people said that he was tyrannical, they had violated the Constitution, and all he should have said, I don't know quite what the rules, it's ambiguous, so I just followed the example of Barack Obama. In 2016, Barack Obama bombed seven different countries. He bombed 26,000 bombs he released. The last day he was in office in 2017, he sent B-2 spirit bombers all the way to Libya, the same planes that Donald Trump did. Again, without congressional authorization. Donald Trump should just say

Starting point is 00:05:22 the law is ambiguous, so I'm following the president set by Barack Obama. And so what I'm trying to say is that whether it's executive orders, and I could mention that, that Barack Obama issued about 260 executive orders, he got one point so exasperated, he said, I have a phone and I have a pin, and I'm going to bypass Congress. So whether it's executive orders or the border or the president's executive powers as commander-in-chief or the question of subpoenas and presidential counselors or cabinet members. All he has to say is he's doing nothing, nothing, a historical or unprecedented. He came into office and he looked to prior precedent, and the prior precedent was established by Joe Biden and Barack Obama. And if there was

Starting point is 00:06:16 criticism of them, he never heard about it. And he is just following in their illustrious tradition. Thank you very much. This is Victor Davis Hansen for the Daily Signal. Thank you for tuning in to the Daily Signal. Please like, share, and subscribe to be notified for more content like this. You can also check out my own website at victorhansen.com and subscribe for exclusive features in addition.

The Daily Signal - Victor Davis Hanson: Trump’s Not An Autocrat. He’s Following the Precedents Set By Obama, Biden

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