William Barr on Donald Trump

The Trump election campaign got a major boost when New York City District Attorney Alvin Bragg indicted the Donald on specious grounds. Other prosecutors are waiting in the wings to pile on.

The fact that Trump has been the object of what certainly appears to be judicial persecution incites his supporters and many who are lukewarm about supporting him to want him to return to the White House.

Besides, looking at the Biden presidency, to say nothing of Biden’s evident cerebral malfunctions, many Americans, faced with the choice between Trump and Biden, will choose the lesser of the two problems. And that would be Trump.

As for the notion that Trump cannot win, recent polls have suggested that he can beat Joe Biden. It seems to be the case, yet again, that America will be choosing between two less-than-perfect candidates in 2024. 

Of course, the election season has just started and the most capable of the Trump challengers, Gov. Ron DeSantis has not yet entered the fray. 

Then again, to the chagrin of many, Trump has been flagrantly violating Ronald Reagan’s Eleventh commandment by unloading on Gov. DeSantis. If he think that this is going to improve his chances with Republican voter turnout, he is probably mistaken. 

And now there is William Barr. As you know, Barr served as Attorney General in the Trump administration. He had an insider’s view of its operation. He formerly held the same position in the administration of George H. W. Bush.  

Naturally, this means that those who idolize Trump will dismiss Barr’s cautionary remarks out of hand. And yet, does it not feel slightly more adult and more rational to pay heed to them. Dismissing criticism of your idol out of hand makes you an idolater, and, do you really want to be an idolater, blind to your hero's faults?

Anyway, last Friday William Barr was at the City Club of Cleveland, interviewed by one Geraldo Rivera. 

When the discussion entered the realm of Trump, the Barr response was anything but encouraging. 

The Wall Street Journal reports it in an editorial this morning. It begins with the notion that people vote for Trump because they want Trump’s policies, regardless.

Barr said this:

If you believe in his policies, what he’s advertising as his policies, he’s the last person who could actually execute them and achieve them. 

He continued, with a critique of Trump as an executive:

He does not have the discipline. He does not have the ability for strategic thinking and linear thinking, or setting priorities or how to get things done in the system….It’s a horror show, you know, when he’s left to his own devices.

Barr worked for Trump for nearly two years, so these remarks are sobering. Evidently, he supports another candidate for president.

Barr suggests that Trump will not deliver on his promises:

And so you may want his policies, but Trump will not deliver Trump policies. He will deliver chaos, and if anything lead to a backlash that will set his policies much further back than they otherwise would be.

As best as I can tell, Barr said nothing about one of Trump’s singular achievements, the Abraham Accords in the Middle East. But, as for Trump’s other successes, Barr attributes them to other people:

The Federalist Society delivered his list of judges that then Majority Leader Mitch McConnell guided to Senate confirmation. Paul Ryan and House Republicans spent years building policy and political capital for tax reform. Vice President Mike Pence supplied some of Mr. Trump’s best policy advisers. While Mr. Trump deserves credit for embracing these people and policies, his second term would be filled by much lesser lights.

On immigration, Barr does not give Trump very good grades. Barr did not mention that the Biden presidency has made things much worse on the border. In most cases we choose between two alternatives; perfect is rarely on the ballot:

The record on Mr. Trump’s signature ideas isn’t as successful. He failed to build the border wall, and even with a GOP majority in Congress in his first two years he never passed an immigration bill that reformed the “credible fear” standard of persecution for migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. All the dysfunctions of U.S. immigration law were there for Mr. Biden to exploit.

Mr. Trump’s trade agenda also achieved little other than higher costs for Americans. China’s behavior hasn’t improved, while the U.S. is out of the successor deal to the Trans-Pacific Partnership that Mr. Trump walked away from. He failed to negotiate a new bilateral deal with the United Kingdom.

And then there was Trump’s way of dealing with FBI Director James Comey. Trump inherited Comey and chose to keep him on for several months, even when others advised him to fire the director:

Mr. Trump’s enemies were relentless and deceptive, but he also too often gave them a sword. He ignored advice (see our Jan. 13, 2017 editorial) to ask James Comey to resign on taking office because, as Mr. Trump told visitors, he was impressed by the FBI director’s height and thought he could control him. True story, and bad decision. After he finally and lawfully fired Mr. Comey in May 2017, Mr. Trump triggered a special counsel probe with comments that contradicted the previous White House explanation.

Barr gives Trump especially bad grades for his handling of the Covid pandemic. Evidently, he much prefers the approach taken by Gov. DeSantis-- a man who Trump has been excoriating on an hourly basis for weeks now:

Mr. Trump conceded to destructive lockdowns recommended by Anthony Fauci, and he never adopted a consistent message. He daily took the bait of White House reporters and engaged in distracting feuds over Covid treatments and so much else.

He never took the time, as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis did, to study the subject and offer reassuring leadership. This was the main reason for Mr. Trump’s defeat in 2020 as Mr. Biden campaigned on ending the chaos.

At the least, we all understand that the Democrats are all for a new Trump candidacy. At least they were until Trump started looking like he can easily beat Joe Biden in the election. One understands that the Democrats are hard at work trying to find someone who can replace Joe Biden-- a significant challenge given the mediocrity of the options.

Still, between Alvin Bragg and others, it feels as though the Democratic Party is choosing the Republican presidential candidate. 

William Barr is not reassured. He saw Trump up close during his tenure at the Justice Department and will not support Trump for another term. The same applies to the Wall Street Journal editorial page, not a notably RINO operation. 

Republican voters are rightly appalled by the behavior of Democratic prosecutors, and they’ve rallied to Mr. Trump’s defense. But they have to decide if they want to let Democrats make their nominating choice for them, while ignoring Mr. Barr’s warning about the policy risks of a second Trump term.