A DIFFERENT LOOK AT THE TRUMP                           ADMINISTRATION’S LEGACY

 

              …This man will not be missed, once he leaves the People’s House

 

A look at why this president will become the “worst-ever, President of the United States”.

 

As we go into the Biden administration, it’s time to predict what we will expect of the Biden administration’s legacy, as we also look at what the Trump administration’s legacy has been for its past four years.

As an example, Trump last week had a short news conference from the White House where he was, as usual, making statements as to how his administration had “done good” for the country.

It was a somewhat strange news conference where he stated that the record breaking Dow Jones Industrial Average had broken the 30,000 level.  Trump said, “That’s a sacred number, 30 000”. It was a bizarre statement, even for Trump.  After all, Trump himself had previously argued that any stock market gains that occur after a presidential election should be credited to the new president-elect, not the guy on his way out the door, which is probably true.  In reality, neither presidents nor presidents-elect actually control stock markets, of course.  But even if Trump did control equity prices, and even if he had done so for the entire duration of his presidency, his record would pale in comparison to his direct predecessor’s record.

But as usual, Trump was bragging about the stock market as if it was because of his administration.  But Trump has always rated the nation’s economy only on how the stock market was doing.  Never mind that less than 20% of the nation has anything to do with directly investing in the stock market.  Right now, the country is in a deep recession that is going to get worse before it gets better.  And that is all dependent on how the nation does in dealing with the pandemic.  So far, the Trump administration has been a total failure in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

So, lets really look at the legacy of the Trump administration by the numbers. 

If Trump wants to talk about some sacred numbers, how about the number that deals with American lives?  Actually, aren’t American human lives the real, “sacred numbers”?

If that’s the case, how about the number: 260,000+ (and growing).  That’s the number of American lives lost to the novel coronavirus.  By the time Trump leaves office, that number will be much higher.

But let’s look at the other Trump administration legacy numbers for historical purposes:

• $750: That’s the amount Trump paid in federal income taxes the year he won the presidency. He paid the same amount his first year in the White House, as well.

• 14.7%: That was the unemployment rate in April 2020. It’s the highest unemployment rate on record since modern statistics on joblessness began in 1948 and likely the highest rate since the Great Depression.

• $421 million: The amount of loans and other debts for which Trump is personally responsible, with most of it reportedly coming due within four years.  This is a period when Trump had hoped to serve his second presidential term, which obviously ain’t gonna to happen.

• 100.1%: Federal debt held by the public as a share of gross domestic product (GDP), in the fiscal year that recently ended.  This is according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The last time this measure exceeded 100 percent was just after World War II.

• $1.9 trillion: The 10-year cost of Trump’s 2017 tax cut for the wealthy. (This is the cost that accounts for the effects of economic growth. This contributes that much more to the debt referenced above.)

• $130,000: The amount Trump paid an adult-film actress with whom he had an affair; this bought her silence ahead of the 2016 election.

• 26: The number of women who have publicly accused Trump of sexual assault.

• 26 million: The number of American adults who reported that their household didn’t have  enough to eat just ahead of Election Day.

• 8: The number of Trump associates to date charged with or convicted of criminal offenses. These former aides and advisers are: onetime 2016 campaign chairman Paul Manafort; 2016 deputy campaign chair Rick Gates; former national security adviser Michael Flynn, whom Trump pardoned last week; foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos; informal Trump foreign policy adviser George Nader; political adviser Roger Stone; personal attorney Michael Cohen; and strategist Stephen K. Bannon.

• 666: The number of separated migrant children whose parents still have not been found, because the Trump administration didn’t keep sufficient records.

• 23,035: The number of false or misleading claims Trump had made as of mid-September 2020, according to the Washington Post Fact Checker team. Obviously, that number will continue to grow during Trump’s final weeks in office.

• $3: The amount that Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club charged taxpayers for a glass of water served to Trump.

• 289: The number of times Trump visited a golf course while being the American president…..so far.

• 1: The number of viewers that Trump administration officials sought to reach during their various TV appearances (the infamous “audience of one”, President Trump).

• 49%: The one-time peak % share of Americans who said they approved of Trump’s performance as president, according to the Gallup Poll.

• 306: The number of Electoral College votes Trump won in 2016, which he called a “landslide.”

• 306: The number of Electoral College votes Joe Biden won in 2020.

Yes, when the books are closed, this is just a small list of the overall legacy of what will go down as the most corrupt and possibly the worst ever, President of the United States.

It will most likely take a couple of generations of Americans to dig out of the political and cultural holes that this president will leave upon his departure.

Copyright G. Ater 2020