Trump is not a comedian nor clown

Re("https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/04/opinion/trump-gop-republican.html")

As Matthew Walther states throughout the essay “The Pointless Triumph of a Hapless President,” Trump’s actions make no sense. From contradictions in his agenda to a lack of patience on deals, Walther argues that Trump’s actions have no basis and reality, so, in turn, he shouldn’t be graded on the same scale as other politicians. He is a figure of absurdity, and should be portrayed in the history books as a man of “hapless, distracted character.”

He is compelled to make various decisions, even when they don’t follow his plan. Bombing Iran as he adopts an isolationist mindset. Places tariffs indiscriminately despite trying to keep allies. However, while we might never understand why he does what he does, it doesn’t mean he is anything less than serious. Calling himself distracted gives him justification for what he has done, when there isn’t. 

The insanity defense is a criminal procedure that argues that a person should not be held accountable for their actions if they were mentally ill at the time of the crime. While rarely evoked, the defense can acquit crimes of the most serious level if the person is supposed victim to their disorder. By calling Trump Walther a “hapless president,” he simultaneously alleviates all the blame put on him; signaling that he isn’t a bad president but a victim to his unfortunate, and erratic behavior, evoking the insanity defense. 

This reframing shifts away Trump’s choices and toward his supposed incapacity. It lets Trump off the hook—“Oh, that's just Trump doing his thing.” We don’t hold Bush as a “hapless character,” but a morally wrong, and deceitful president. We don’t say that Nixon was “beholden to vast structural forces and to the limitations of his own personality,” but guilty and bad. And Trump shouldn’t either; he should be warranted for all his problems and crimes.