Neoconservative Iraq War cheerleader David Frum believes that “sham” President Donald Trump will not be able to lead America in a potential war against Iran because he has “never even aspired” to be president of the whole country.
Frum wrote in a Wednesday Atlantic piece that a “rally around the flag” effect did not happen after Qasem Soleimani’s death because “the fundamental geology of Donald Trump’s presidency remains unchanged: A large majority of Americans do not trust him, do not support him, and will not follow him.”
Saying that polls that have found near-majorities of Americans wanting Trump to be removed from office are “certainly sufficient to deprive the president of the legitimacy to lead the nation to war,” Frum claims that “the United States finds itself in the dangerous situation of having a president in power but without authority.”
He also says Trump will not be able to lead half of the country during a potential war because the president has criticized the policies of and made nasty remarks about places like California, New York, Baltimore, Atlanta, and Chicago.
Frum told CNN’s Brian Stelter on Sunday’s Reliable Sources that Trump is incapable of leading the nation to a potential war because he has never even wanted to be the president of all Americans.
“If your president is not able to lead the country, you don’t go to war. Donald Trump has never even aspired to be President of the United States,” Frum said on the program. “He’s president of a little less than half the United States and that’s the only job he’s ever wanted. He regards the majority of the country as his enemies. How can you lead a united nation to war?”
Frum, who has been credited with coining “the axis of evil” as former President George W. Bush’s speechwriter, once smeared Pat Buchanan and the late Bob Novak in a 2003 National Review op-ed as “unpatriotic conservatives” for opposing the the Iraq War. He said Sunday that the Iraq War failed even though Bush had legal authority from Congress.
“As President Bush pushed toward war with Iraq in 2003, he had legal authority from Congress, he had an international coalition, he had popular support, and the operation and a clear war plan, and the war still failed,” Frum said. “Now, none of those conditions are present. There is no authorization from Congress, there is no public support, there is no international coalition, and there’s no clear war plan. The United States has embarked on is an escalator of retaliation with no vision of where to go.”
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