Writing in a piece for MS NOW Monday, reporter James Downie argued that President Donald Trump’s brazen and blatant corruption has created the most “obvious target” for his enemies to exploit.
Despite once campaigning heavily on “draining the swamp” of corruption in government, Trump’s second term has emerged as one of the most corrupt and self-serving in the nation’s history. As Downie noted in his piece, “the president reportedly keeps close track of which companies contribute to his presidential library, ballroom, political action committees and other entities,” with major companies like Apple, Meta and Microsoft each donating at least $10 million. According to a Wall Street Journal report, “Several top Washington lobbyists have been asked to raise $50 million or more, including from their clients, for Trump projects.”
Recent financial disclosures revealed that Trump pulled in over $2 billion in his first year back in office. The majority of that money came from his family’s cryptocurrency ventures, which have emerged as the epicenter of his most corrupt dealings as president.
In conducting all of this grift in broad daylight, Downie argued that Trump has created a clear target on himself for Democrats to target, especially so given the recent poll findings about voters’ distaste for political corruption across the board.
“This ‘Trump Transaction Tax,’ as one Wall Street analyst called it, as well as his crypto profiteering, his plane from Qatar, the ‘anti-weaponization fund’ and the many other money-grabbing acts of his second term make his corruption an obvious target for Democrats this fall and beyond,” Downie wrote. “Even under far cleaner administrations, investigating corruption can be a powerful weapon for legislators from the opposition party. But in this case, Democrats can contrast what Trump promised to what he’s done.”
He added later: “Now the president has abandoned even the pretense of ridding Washington of corruption. Meanwhile, Democratic candidates, like Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia and Texas state Sen. James Talarico, who’s running for the Senate, appear to be making headway with campaigns that heavily feature fighting corruption. However, over all, according to recent polls, running on corruption may be more difficult than many Democrats suspect. But that makes their doing so all the more necessary.”
Downie further stressed that, to win back voters, Democrats must be willing to act against corruption once they take power again. A recent CNN/SSRS poll found that “a plurality of respondents (41 percent) most associated the GOP with corruption, but 31 percent said Democrats and a quarter said both parties.” With these findings in mind, it is clear that there is “extraordinary bipartisan support for ethics and campaign finance reforms,” with voters blaming the lack of action so far on both parties.
“That makes it even more imperative that Democrats not just run on finally addressing this longstanding frustration but actually follow through on their promises,” Downie concluded. “The party that believes in government’s ability to solve problems has more to lose when voters believe that government is corrupted.”