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Susan Young is the Bangor Daily News opinion editor.
I respect U.S. Rep. Jared Golden. I don’t believe, as some have suggested, that he is naive or a traitor to Democratic values. But, when it comes to the dangers of another Donald Trump presidency, I think the 2nd District congressman is wrong.
In an opinion column published by the Bangor Daily news earlier this week, Golden said that Trump was going to be elected president in 2024, and he was OK with that. He chided Democrats for their “pearl clutching” worries that Trump is a threat to our democracy.
I was, frankly, stunned by Golden’s normalization of Trump and his candidacy. As the Bangor Daily News editorial board has written on many occasions, Trump is no ordinary presidential candidate, and should have long ago been disqualified from occupying the White House.
Even if you don’t think Trump is a threat to our democracy, there are myriad reasons he should never be president again. He is a serial liar. He is a misogynist. He is a bully. He sows division and hatred.
He is a convicted felon facing dozens of additional felony charges in other cases, even if the Supreme Court’s recent decision likely undermines these cases. He was impeached twice, for his incitement of the violence on Jan. 6, 2021, and for trying to pressure the president of Ukraine to find incriminating information about Biden and his son Hunter to benefit his campaign in exchange for military aid. Trump tried to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and still repeats lies about that election being “stolen” from him.
A man like Trump should never be on a presidential ballot, and he should not be the Republican Party’s standard bearer.
I was dismayed at how much Golden downplayed what happened on Jan. 6, 2021, in his column. Yes, it was “a dark day,” as Golden wrote. And, yes, brave police officers managed to eventually stop rioters intent on disrupting America’s peaceful transfer of power. But dozens of officers were injured and four later died by suicide. More than 150 Capitol Police officers quit shortly after that traumatizing day. This isn’t something to take lightly.
Golden also takes comfort in the fact that courts and state elected officials upheld our election laws. But such safeguards are far from assured this year. Trump and his allies have worked to remake courts and to elect state officials who will do their bidding. They have threatened and harassed those who will not. They have already set the stage for challenges to November’s election results if they don’t favor Trump.
As for members of Congress certifying the election results, the U.S. House of Representatives is now led by a man, Mike Johnson, who played a leading role in trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and voted against certifying the results.
And, although Golden didn’t mention it, then-Vice President Mike Pence played a crucial role in upholding the U.S. Constitution and refusing to heed Trump’s demand that he stand in the way of certifying the election results. Trump has yet to name a running mate this year, but we can be pretty certain that he will pick someone who is more likely to unquestioningly do his bidding than Pence was.
Beyond all of this, Trump’s pledges for revenge if he is reelected, and the far-right’s horrifying plans to gut the federal government and roll back decades-old civil rights, are not happening in a vacuum. The Supreme Court, which gained three new conservative members during Trump’s presidency, ruled earlier this week that presidents are largely immune from prosecution, as long as their actions are “official,” which the court did not define.
With this ruling, Trump — and any president, including Biden — is empowered to do just about anything they want, it seems. That, to me, is a terrifying prospect.
Finally, it is easy for Golden — a straight, powerful, financially secure, white man — to say the dangers of a Trump presidency are overblown. He and privileged people like him will probably be fine, at least for a while. But what about the women who may lose autonomy over their bodies? What about the transgender Americans who may be denied essential health care and erased from society? What about the immigrants who may be marginalized and harassed? What about the low-income families who continue to live near polluting factories, breathing dirty air? What about the seniors and other Americans who could lose access to health care?
Biden is far from a perfect president, and I worry about his age. But, along with Democrats in Congress, and the occasional Republican who supports worthwhile legislation, such as Susan Collins, he has taken important steps to improve lives for these, and other, Americans. That work should continue, not be undone.
Trump may win November’s presidential election. That to me is a cause for alarm, not acquiescence.
