Trump must be furious! In the dueling town hall meetings Thursday night, the ratings for Biden exceeded those for Trump. Given that Trump lives for ratings this must really upset him. No doubt, if he is ever asked about this, he will simply claim that the Nielsen ratings are inaccurate. Or, even better, he will claim that several hundred thousand people were counted illegally in the ratings. No doubt Trump will claim that he had the highest ratings regardless of the data. Perhaps he can get Sean Spicer to speak on his behalf and make the case that his ratings were, in fact, higher. As we all recall, Sean Spicer did such a persuasive job about the crowd size during Trump’s inauguration speech!!
On a more serious note, there is a headline this morning that reads, “Trump Could Face a Legal Reckoning,”1 which details the legal problems that Trump could face should he lose the election.
“Without some of the protections afforded him by the presidency, Trump will become vulnerable to multiple investigations looking into possible fraud in his financial business dealings as a private citizen — both as an individual and through his company. He faces defamation lawsuits sparked by his denials of accusations made by women who have alleged he assaulted them, including E. Jean Carroll, the former magazine columnist who has accused him of rape. And then there are claims he corrupted the presidency for his personal profits.
As President, Trump has been able to block and delay several of these investigations and lawsuits — including a yearlong fight over a subpoena for his tax returns — in part because of his official position. Many of those matters have wound through the courts and will come to a head whether he is reelected or not.
But with the polls showing that Democratic rival Joe Biden is leading in the race, the stakes become much higher for Trump if he loses the election. A raft of legal issues, including a criminal investigation by New York prosecutors, will come into focus in the weeks after Election Day.”
I have made this case several times in previous posts arguing that, personally, I believe this is one of the biggest driving forces behind Trump’s seemingly desperate efforts to get reelected. He knows that if he loses the election, he will be in serious legal jeopardy and the Trump ‘house of cards’ will very likely come crashing down.
Interestingly, at a rally in Georgia he made the statement that if he loses the election it would be so disappointing, he may have to leave the country. Frankly, I think he might already have that ‘Plan B’ in mind but it has less to do with being disappointed than in avoiding the legal problems that he will likely face.
An interesting thought exercise is to speculate where he might go. The US has extradition treaties with over 100 countries but there are many that do not have such treaties. However, the list of countries which do not have extradition treaties with the US is dominated by countries in Africa and the Middle East. Those are highly unlikely choices for Trump given his denigration of blacks and Muslims. Also, on the list are North Korea, Iran, China and Russia. Even given the ‘love affair’ between Trump and Kim Jung Un, North Korea is probably not a good choice for Trump. Iran is obviously out and even China would be a stretch given Trump’s attacks on China over the coronavirus. So that leaves – drum roll – Russia!!
I have stated before that it is my firm belief that if Trump thought he was in enough legal jeopardy that could land him in jail, he would escape to Russia. I’m sure there are those that think this is just hyperbole and craziness. I actually think it is quite within the realm of possibility. Putin (and all of the other oligarchs) would welcome him with open arms. Imagine, a former President of the United States, who has had access to the country’s most sensitive secrets taking refuge in Russia. I just hope that if he and members of his family are ever indicted that the government takes appropriate steps to ground his plane, grab their passports and keep close tabs on them. Sounds like a movie, doesn’t it? Watch for the opening at a theatre near you!
On a more positive note, it appears like New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, will be reelected to a second term. The young prime minister (40) has been lauded around the world for her handling of, not only the pandemic, but the terrorist shooting at two mosques in Christchurch which resulted in the deaths of 51 people, and the volcanic eruption at White Island which resulted in 21 deaths. To date, the total death count in New Zealand from the coronavirus is 25 in a country of 5 million people. (0.0005 percent) whereas the death count in the US is 215,000 in a country of 330 million (0.065 percent) (130 times higher)
While it is true that New Zealand is an island nation and it was somewhat easier to close its borders, it still required decisive action by the Prime Minister to deal with this crisis. When this virus first surfaced, Prime Minister Ardern acted quickly and decisively to shut the country down and contain it. And when a second outbreak started to emerge, she shut it down again. Now, life in New Zealand is much back to normal – a recent rugby match was attended by 30,000 fans.
I had the privilege of spending 5 weeks in New Zealand at the end of 2018 and it is a wonderful country filled with spectacular scenery and friendly people. I would go back in a heartbeat. And the people have now chosen to reelect a pragmatic, empathic, calm, charismatic and decisive leader for a second term. We should be so lucky.
Your predictions hopefully come true and Trump joins Snowden.