December 9, 2024
On Donald Trump's "Meet the Press" interview...
Yesterday, NBC’s “Meet the Press” aired host Kristen Welker’s interview with President-elect Donald Trump. I think it’s safe to say it had something for everyone. For those who support Donald Trump, he brought up issues that are important to you (cost of living, illegal immigration). For those who don’t support him, he brought up issues that cause you concern (mass deportation, January 6 Committee members “should go to jail”). And for those who still don’t know what to make of him, he had something for you, too (he tried to end Obamacare in the courts while trying to save it even though he supported repealing it — that’s not my take on what he said; that is, condensed, what he said).
A goal of this site is to try to skip past the distractions to focus on what ought to be of concern. I’ll of course miss things and get other things wrong, but certain matters came up in this interview that left-leaning columnists are already pouncing on and I’m not sure why. Other matters came up that right-leaning columnists are dismissing and that confuses me as well. I’m not trying to have it both ways here. I just think once you get past the initial gut reactions, you can dig down on what matters.
For example, for the left, Trump said he wanted to end birthright citizenship. He can try, but as far as I’m aware, he can’t do it by his lonesome. It’s enshrined in the 14th Amendment. If presidents could alter amendments, every Republican president would repeal the 16th Amendment which allows for income taxes, and every Democratic president would reinstate it, throwing in a minimum tax to boot. So to my mind, this is a distraction. Also, I’m not sure how birthright citizenship has become so freighted with controversy. Our laws are incredibly permissive — you’re born here, you’re American. Some nations including Canada and Mexico are similarly permissive, but this isn’t a global movement. Most European nations grant citizenship dependent on the parents’ citizenry. Other nations such as New Zealand and Northern Ireland have repealed their lax birthright citizenship laws in the past 20 years. This is a topic more worthy of discussion than dismay. There are cases for and against. I’m interested in that talk. But worrying about Trump single-handedly ending birthright citizenship distracts from things he says and does that are actually of concern.
Such as saying members of the House January 6 Committee should go to jail. This doesn’t concern me because I think Trump will send the committee’s members to jail. I don’t. But it speaks to a lack of temperament and level of unpredictability that dogs Trump. The nation’s problems are too numerous for its president to be distracted by and playing mind games with his political enemies. For the country to succeed, it needs steadfastness. A president can provide that… or he can’t. This is a preview of what we got last time with Trump. This is a preview of part of the reason he lost in 2020. Some may dismiss it as Trump being Trump, but from where I sit that’s not an excuse, nor is it reassuring. For Republicans looking to achieve their goals, this kind of behavior can’t be tolerated. It needs to be condemned in front of the TV cameras and to Trump’s face. Will it do any good? I doubt it. But Americans are still looking for the adult in the room. If Trump wants an actual mandate (i.e. bigger Republican margins in Congress in 2026), he needs to step into the role.
So that’s my take on the interview and where we go from here. Watch it and decide for yourself.