WSJ editors suggest Trump withdraw from race

Trump’s troubles with his own class – the US capitalist class – continue to worsen. They see him as too unreliable, too destabilizing of their own rule.

Mainstream media turns against Trump
A very visible example of this is how the mainstream media is reporting on the protests that erupted after the murder of George Floyd. Trump has tried to use the occasional instances of property damage to paint the protests as simply violent riots. With polls showing that two-thirds of Americans supporting the protests, Trump’s attempt has failed miserably. But the reason that so many support the protests is largely due to how the media is reporting them. In most instances, this same media will focus on the few instances of black clad youth starting fires or breaking windows to draw a general picture. This time, they are doing the opposite. This NBC News report on the situation in Portland is typical. “The Wall of Moms appeared last week, dressed in yellow and holding sunflowers while linking arms to form a physical barrier separating protesters — some, their own children — from federal officers,” NBC reported. “The next night, they were accompanied by the Wall of Dads, toting leaf blowers to blow tear gas back toward federal officers.”

Federal forces in Portland
Trump’s sending of federal forces to Portland followed his attempt to bring the US military onto the streets of US cities. He was stymied by the opposition to this from the military chiefs themselves, as Oaklandsocialist reported. His alternative was to bring out federal forces, including border patrol and Homeland Security, into the streets, starting in Portland. That was coupled with an increasingly open appeal to white supremacy. As Oaklandsocialist said, there was a longer term game involved: The further use of those forces in November and beyond in order to stay in power.

Federal forces in Portland. Is this what (U.S.) democracy looks like?

Trump’s deployment was followed by his tweet on July 30 that elections could be delayed.

On that same evening, retired Colonel Lawrence Willerson and former chief of Staff for Bush’s Secretary of State Colin Powell, said the same thing on CNN’s Out Front program: “Let’s say, for example, these deployments of Homeland Security contrctors and other law enforcement agents to Portland, to Detroit, to Chicago and elsewhere are strategic tests of what could be done in very critical places where voting will take place,” Willerson commented. “This is not a good development at all…. We don’t want to see military forces deployed to influence voters.”

And Trump’s suggestion that elections could be delayed was met with universal condemnation. Steve Calibresi of the extreme right wing Federalist Society wrote “Until recently, I had taken as political hyperbole the Democrats’ assertion that President Trump is a fascist. But this latest tweet is fascistic and is itself grounds for the president’s immediate impeachment again by the House of Representatives and his removal from office by the Senate.”

Even Trump’s own Mitch McConnell had to say “Never in the history of the Congress, through wars, depressions and the Civil War have we ever not had a federally scheduled election on time, and we’ll find a way to do that again this Nov. 3.”

WSJ editors
Most interesting was the suggestion raised by the editors of the Wall St. Journal. Normally, they are Trump’s hard core defenders. They pointed to problems counting mail-in ballots, but then concluded: “This is not to suggest that the November election will be “rigged,” as Mr. Trump asserts. If he believes that, he should reconsider his participation and let someone run who isn’t looking for an excuse to blame for defeat.”

They are actually suggesting that Trump withdraw from the presidential election! This shows the level of concern that all wings of the US capitalist class have with the stability of their president and with his attempts to discredit that most hallowed of US capitalism’s institutions: “free and fair elections”.

Whether Trump will be able to cobble together enough support and suppress enough opposition votes to get back in is unsure. But the US capitalist class is worried, very worried.

Meanwhile, Trump had yet another private phone call with his mentor – Vladimir Putin – on the eve of Trump’s pulling out one third of US forces from Germany.

Federal forces in Portland. Is this what (U.S.) democracy looks like?