A recent CBS News poll finds that 65 percent of Americans remember the economy under Donald Trump foundly. Only 38 say the same about the Joe Biden years.
The media, naturally, has begun reminding Americans that the Trump years were actually terrible. The New York Times contends that a ‘collective amnesia’ has gripped forgetful voters. And Joe Biden will reportedly draw a “sharp contrast” between his term and Trump’s during the State of the Union.
Now, without diminishing the weirdness and political chaos that marked the Trump years, I strongly suspect that most voters don’t share this emotional and psychological trauma with the political class.
All of this will seem counterintuitive to experts in Washington, D.C., considering their hysteria over “MAGA extremism”— not to mention Trump’s often hyperbolic, conspiratorial, and severe rhetoric. But in almost every way that matters to the average voter, Trump is more moderate. And maybe that’s an underappreciated reality of the 2024 presidential race.
Yes, the Trump era was filled with crazy pressers and constant upheaval in D.C. Most of the daily media hyperventilation was centered around the ginned-up Russian interference conspiracy theory invented by Democrats. At this point, only a deeply cynical or credulous partisan will contend that Trump is a Russian asset.
And sure, Democrats also had meltdowns over entirely mainline conservative issues: across-the-board tax cuts, tepid deregulation, the exit from an unconstitutional climate treaty, a less active foreign policy, the nomination of justices who take the Constitution seriously, and enhancement of border security. You can disagree with policies, but they aren’t
