Donald Trump, lawfare, and restoring trust in institutions
Trump would be wise to promise now that if he is elected in November, he will not go after President Biden in 2025
Eight years after the 2016 election, I am still seeing people bring up the "lock her up" chants regarding Hillary Clinton, but she was never actually charged or prosecuted once Donald Trump became President. Trump was wise not to prosecute Hillary Clinton in 2017. Whether a prosecution would have been warranted or not, a prosecution would have looked like political retribution of an electoral rival and former Obama Administration cabinet appointee.
However, the multiple prosecutions of Trump have changed the game. We have crossed the Rubicon and we could now see never-ending use of the criminal justice system by both sides to punish political enemies going forward. This could be done on the flimsiest of grounds, or on solid grounds, but the American people will lose faith in the justice system the longer this continues.
This distrust or even contempt will not be confined to high-profile prosecutions of political actors. Once you destroy trust in an institution, you cannot fragment that lack of trust to only one segment of that system. People will lose trust in criminal cases all the way down the line, from a former President to a shoplifter in rural Nebraska. Is it really a proportionate prosecution, or does the prosecutor have an axe to grind? The implications for law and order are truly worrisome. Making everyone distrust everyone else will also damage our shredded national unity even more.
That is why Trump would be wise to promise now that if he is elected in November, he will not go after President Biden in 2025 and that he would even consider pardoning Biden. It would benefit him politically to do that, as the man who has been one of the most childish figures in American politics suddenly becomes the adult in the room. It would also starkly contrast Trump's agenda with the lawfare used against him personally. But more than being politically helpful to Trump and harmful to Biden, it would go a long way to restoring trust in American institutions and preserving their credibility going forward. I hope the former President strongly considers doing that.