Many commentators are saying that the House impeachment managers case is so compelling and that it lays out the truth so clearly, that it will become the defining legacy of the Trump presidency. And face it, a president orchestrating a deadly coup attempt is a big deal.
But is it a bigger deal than the half a million who died of COVID, hundreds of thousands of whom would have lived had Trump not put his political interests before the public health of the US? Bigger than the massive economic crisis that accompanied that public health catastrophe?
Is it bigger than the fact that Trump was a traitor who sold out the country to Russia? Bigger than the fact that he was impeached twice? Bigger than the fact he separated families and put babies in cages? Bigger than his corruption, and nepotism?
Is it more defining of Trump than his history as a rapist, a serial abuser of women, a tax fraud, a racist, a misogynist? More defining than his serial obstruction of justice and efforts to undermine the rule of law in the United States?
The answer is, of course, it does not have to be bigger than these things and we should not want it to supplant them in our memories. Trump was the totality of all his crimes and betrayals, all his character defects and all the damage he did to others.
Never forget the bloody Capitol insurrection. Never forget his attempt to end democracy in America. But don't forget the rest either. Each of his abuses compounds and colors and explains and worsens the others. We must never forget any of it.
And we must be absolutely clear that every single enabler and defender of Trump is a co-author of the tragic travesty that was his disastrous presidency. We must never forget them or their role in this either.
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