Ed Kilgore: “At first blush, the idea that things would be better had Trump been peacefully re-inaugurated on January 20, 2021, seems nuts. But we can all agree it would have been good if there had been no ‘stop the steal’ rally, no gatherings of Christian-right extremists blowing shofars, no Capitol riot, no shattered windows, no dead or injured police officers, and no enduring right-wing myth of a rigged election.”
“A Trump win would have also meant no second Trump impeachment, then no federal criminal prosecution of Trump for his involvement in an attempted insurrection. These developments, while momentarily satisfying to Democrats, did virtually nothing to limit Trump’s political support while doing a lot to intensify polarization.”
“Moreover, think of the burdens Trump would have inherited as a second-term president taking office in 2021. He would not have been able to hand off the final stages of the coronavirus epidemic, and all the unpopular and unpleasant measures it involved, most of which he had originally supported. He would have almost certainly become the ‘inflation president,’ too.”
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