The politics of shamelessness: a survival tactic from Trump to party loyalty

Every person operates with a definite grade of shamelessness. It’s practically successful the occupation description.

As they effort to navigate successful howling governmental winds, they regularly person to warrant changing their positions. Maybe the country’s temper has shifted. Maybe it’s a substance of enactment loyalty. Maybe they’re bowing to unit from large donors.

And possibly they’re being hypocritical due to the fact that thing they opposed during the Biden administration is present perfectly good successful the Trump administration.

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Whatever the circumstances, it’s shameless to connection an mentation that everyone knows is garbage. 

And they person to bash it with a consecutive face. They can’t precise good say, Donald Trump is going to marque definite I’m primaried if I don’t spell on connected this one. So they connection the transparently bogus explanation.

That, you could argue, is the quality of politics. You request to person immoderate flexibility, immoderate wiggle room. 

In 1 of my 2 interviews with President Trump past year, helium tried to explicate wherefore helium had wholly flipped connected TikTok. After all, helium had spent his archetypal word trying to prohibition the Chinese-owned institution connected nationalist information grounds, lone to beryllium blocked by the courts. Now, suddenly, helium had done a 180 and was trying to prevention the app, contempt a legislature ban.

President-elect Trump is pictured successful beforehand of the TikTok logo. (Getty Images)

Trump told maine helium changed his caput due to the fact that outlawing TikTok would assistance Facebook, which helium considered a greater threat. 

I didn’t bargain it. He had concluded that TikTok was incredibly popular, particularly with younger people, and wanted to presumption himself arsenic its savior. This, of course, was earlier Mark Zuckerberg began cozying up to Trump, specified arsenic by making a million-dollar donation to his inaugural.

Trump whitethorn person the biggest shameless cistron of them all–and that’s portion of wherefore he’s successful. 

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He doesn’t get hung up connected what helium said the time earlier oregon an hr before. He tin spell from expressing sympathy for Joe Biden’s prostate crab diagnosis to saying helium doesn’t consciousness atrocious for Biden astatine all. He tin spell from blaming the Ukraine warfare impasse connected Volodomyr Zelenskyy to yet condemning Vladimir Putin to calling it Biden’s war.

Ross Douthat has a astute instrumentality connected this successful his New York Times column:

"The willingness to swerve and backpedal and contradict himself is simply a large portion of what keeps the president viable, and the committedness of chickening retired is portion of Trump’s implicit transportation to plaything voters — reassuring them that thing utmost is besides provisional, that he’s ever investigating limits (on policy, connected power) but besides mostly consenting to propulsion back."

So MAGA voters spot Trump to spell beauteous far–but not excessively far?

Supporters of President Elect Donald Trump be a rally astatine Capital One Arena successful Washington DC, Sunday January 19th, 2025, the eve of Inauguration Day (Breanne Deppisch/Fox News Digital)

That brings them into John Kerry territory: "I really did ballot for the $87 cardinal earlier I voted against it," referring to subject assistance to our troops successful Iraq and Afghanistan. The Republican ads instantly portrayed the 2004 statesmanlike nominee arsenic a flip-flopper. Kerry aboriginal allowed that helium had been "inarticulate." 

It’s utile to deliberation astir flipping the script. In the media furor implicit Trump’s spate of pardons, the president gave 1 to the person of a convulsive Chicago gang, Larry Hoover, a cause dealer who’s been serving six consecutive beingness sentences for sidesplitting a man. 

Largely symbolic? Sure, due to the fact that Hoover volition stay successful situation connected authorities charges. Doesn’t matter.

If Biden had done that, blimpish voters would person gone haywire. How situation helium broadside with a murderer? Does Biden person nary respect for quality life? The antheral who was killed doesn’t get a 2nd chance.

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The MAGA-driven communicative would person been connected tv each 10 minutes. With Trump, it was a blip, hardly a communicative astatine all.

Naturally, Biden’s hands aren’t precisely cleanable connected the pardon front. He repeatedly promised not to pardon Hunter, past did precisely that aft the election. It was a blatant prevarication and a large story. 

Former U.S. President Joe Biden speaks astatine a league hosted by the Advocates, Counselors, and Representatives for the Disabled (ACRD) connected April 15, 2025 successful Chicago, Illinois. ACRD champions the rights of those who beryllium connected Social Security and disablement services.  (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

The different time Trump got aggravated erstwhile a CNBC newsman asked him astir his TACO nickname, Trump Always Chickens Out, based connected the chatter connected Wall Street. He called the question "nasty," this from the king of bestowing derogatory nicknames (see Joe, Sleepy). 

Poultry metaphor aside, the president does often hold draconian tariffs, behaviour speedy negotiations and state victory. His supporters similar that due to the fact that the markets usually sprout up, though the turmoil intelligibly shakes up the planetary economy.

One crushed Trump gets distant with each this is that the Democrats don’t person a nationalist spokesman. Tim Walz, the VP flop, toying with moving for president? People similar Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer aren’t breaking through. AOC gets immoderate bully jabs successful connected societal media, but she’s not adjacent a subordinate of the leadership. 

You besides person to recognition Trump’s governmental skills. He doesn’t person the slightest fearfulness of being shameless.