Wall Street Journal Editorial Board Tries to End Trump’s Political Career in Searing Op-Ed: Capitol Attack ‘Will Mar His Legacy for All Time’
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The Wall Street Journal editorial board wrote a blistering column on Sunday, arguing that although the Senate voted to acquit, Donald Trump, “he won’t win another national election.”
In their column Trump’s Non-Vindication, the editorial board maintained that on Jan. 6, “Mr. Trump’s behavior was inexcusable and will mar his legacy for all time.”
Noting that although Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was “lacerating in his criticism” of the former president, the Senate Minority Leader ultimately voted to acquit Trump, as he insisted impeaching a citizen had no “limiting principle.”
The column went on to argue that Trump is not the sole person responsible for the Jan. 6 Capitol attack — noting that some have questioned D.C.’s lack of security. The board concluded, nevertheless, that Trump should be entirely blamed for “refusing for hours to ask his supporters to stand down.”
“Mr. Trump’s Jan. 6 early-afternoon comments to House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy dismissing a plea to call off the rioters, as related second-hand by GOP Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, are further evidence of Mr. Trump’s dereliction,” the board added.
The article went on to praise the seven Republican senators who strayed from the majority of their party and voted to convict the former president — quoting Edmund Burke to highlight their decision to put others before themselves.
“It is his duty [as a Member of Parliament] to sacrifice his repose, his pleasures, his satisfactions, to theirs; and above all, ever, and in all cases, to prefer their interest to his own,” Burke explained to Bristol electors in 1774. “But his unbiassed opinion, his mature judgment, his enlightened conscience, he ought not to sacrifice to you, to any man, or to any set of men living.”
The article also worked to absolve McConnell of any blame, arguing that he was not “enabling” Trump throughout his presidency, but instead rightfully supporting his party and constituents.
The editorial board maintained that 2016 voters actually enabled Trump — “aided by the Democrats who nominated Hillary Clinton.”
They went on to advise against a vote of censure, which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has already ruled out, warning that it could give Trump and his allies ammunition to claim “that elites are disenfranchising them”
“We’d still support such a resolution, though not if it includes language from Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment barring Mr. Trump from holding federal office again,” they wrote, adding, “Far better to trust the voters to render their judgment if Mr. Trump chooses to run again.”
The column argued that although Trump may run again, possibly as a third-party candidate, “he won’t win another national election,” and will instead further divide the right — leading to Democrat victories.
“The country is moving past the Trump Presidency, and the GOP will remain in the wilderness until it does too,” the column concluded.
