President Donald Trump is able to stay in power because of a “structural” problem in American democracy — at least according to a former Trump adviser who has previously warned about the nation losing its sense of shame regarding the Republican leader’s conduct.
“America has a structural problem,” Anthony Scaramucci, a Wall Street worker and former Trump communications director, posted on X on Sunday. “When you gerrymander your district and screen out everyone who doesn’t already agree with you, you never have to modify your positions. You never have to meet anyone in the middle. You just keep winning by playing to your base.”
Yet in the process, Scaramucci observed, politicians are not required to compete in the marketplace of ideas against individuals who might effectively push back on them, both philosophically and politically.
“But imagine if we drew districts that actually reflected the demographics of the area, regardless of party,” Scaramucci wrote. “Suddenly candidates are in a marketing competition. They have to appeal to moderates. They have to move toward each other.”
He concluded that, because this does not happen, members of both parties are encouraged to become increasingly extreme.
“The system used to produce that naturally,” Scaramucci wrote. “Members of Congress used to go to lunch together, socialize, build relationships across the aisle. The system is now designed to prevent that.”
Scaramucci has been an outspoken opponent of Trump during his second term. For example, he recently appeared on MS NOW to tell host Nicolle Wallace that the teleprompter operator accused of insider trading based on the president’s speeches erred by believing someone like him — who is not wealthy — would be protected just like Trump’s wealthy insiders.
“He doesn’t qualify, the poor kid, because he doesn’t make enough money,” Scaramucci said. “He’s not influential enough, and his last name isn’t Trump. So the kid’s obviously in a lot of trouble, and he’s going to pay the price while the president’s going to go on to make several billion dollars for himself.”
He added, “He sees it as incredibly smart: ‘Look how smart I am. The other people that held his position, they couldn’t do this. Look how great I am.’ While Barack Obama had a seven- or eight-page financial disclosure, he had a phone book of 927 pages. And, oh, by the way — you pointed this out — he thinks it’s peanuts compared to what the tech blogs make, etc. He also thinks a lot of the stuff that he’s doing is legal.”
Scaramucci concluded, “And if you look through the financial disclosure, where he was actually breaking the disclosure law, he’s paying the $200 requisite fine. So he’s laughing his way to the bank. His attitude is, ‘You know, this is what all presidents should have been doing. Look how smart I am.’”