America Would Be Better Off If Trump Won in 2020

At first blush, the idea that things would be better had Trump been peacefully re-inaugurated on January 20, 2021, seems nuts. But we can all agree it would have been good if there had been no “stop the steal” rally, no gatherings of Christian-right extremists blowing shofars, no Capitol riot, no shattered windows, no dead or injured police officers, and no enduring right-wing myth of a rigged election.

An interesting thought experiment by a Leftist.

The alt-history genre is engaging because it’s a type of speculative fiction extrapolates the result of the change of one major historical event.  There is an element of wish fulfillment because unexpected good and bad developments don’t count.

The author, Ed Kilgore, despises President Trump and assumes that his New York Magazine readers do as well.  Fine, get passed that.  He does make some valid points.

Kilgore doesn’t address Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.  That isn’t likely to have happened and NATO would have gotten strong enough that it would probably never happen.

The unlimited immigration across our southern border would not have happened. 

Ketanji Brown Jackson, the weakest link, would not be a Supreme Court justice.

Trump’s second term would have been dominated by Covid, as Biden’s was.  No telling how that would have worked out.  Trump would not have been as influenced by the teachers unions, so schools would have opened sooner.  That would have been a big help to the country.

Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Mike Pence would be old news.

Kamala Harris and Mike Pence might have been presidential candidates, but neither would have made it through the primaries.

It’s likely that Trump would not have had the strong and decisive cabinet that he currently has, and he’d have fewer Democrats.  With no Biden term, Trump would not be faced with such dire issues, and his actions would be less reactionary.

The Democratic Party, with no Joe Biden, Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton, would be younger and have a platform beyond just opposing President Trump.

With four years off, Trump clarified his personnel and policy.  His current term is revolutionary.  Is America First principle is establishing a new world order.  Trade policy is moving away from free trade, toward tariffs to benefit the American economy.  Global security is moving away from America as the world’s police force, to European countries taking a bigger role in NATO.  Nation building is out, in favor of targeted strikes on international threats. 

At the end of President Trump’s current term, JD Vance is almost certainly going to be the Republican nominee with most of the establishment Republicans forced out.  America First will have staying power.

Had Trump won in 2020, that almost certainly would not be the case.