The Spectator

Britain should watch America – and learn from its mistakes

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issue 20 January 2024

For many people, Donald Trump’s victory in Iowa this week will seem incomprehensible. Not only did he win – he did so by a margin that no other Republican has achieved since the state became the first to choose its candidates. This is quite a feat from a man facing almost 100 criminal charges, who was also twice impeached – the second time for encouraging his supporters to riot on Capitol Hill on 6 January 2021.

It now seems inevitable that Americans will be offered the same unappealing choice of leader in November as they had in 2020, but with an even older Joe Biden doing battle with an even more rumbustious Donald Trump. On current polling it looks as if Trump could win.

Trump’s power comes from his ability to provoke: he drives his enemies to loudly denounce him, and therefore promote him. It is hard to look past Trump’s outlandish character and conduct, which has often disgraced his country and his office.

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