Instant Opinion: is Donald Trump’s re-election campaign ‘toast’?
Your guide to the best columns and commentary on Wednesday 1 July
The Week’s daily round-up highlights the five best opinion pieces from across the British and international media, with excerpts from each.
1. Frank Bruni in The New York Times
on whether the 2020 election is already over
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Is Trump Toast?
“According to some abstruse algorithm that The Economist regularly updates, he has only a one in 10 chance of winning the Electoral College and thus the presidency. According to a historical averaging of election-year polls by the website FiveThirtyEight, Biden’s lead over Trump right now is the biggest at this stage of the contest since Bill Clinton’s over Bob Dole in 1996, when Clinton won his second term. Trump’s response? To set himself on fire. His gratuitously touted instincts are nowhere to be found, supplanted by self-defeating provocations, kamikaze tantrums and an itchy Twitter finger. There’s a culture war for him to exploit, but instead of simply pillorying monument destroyers, he created his own living monuments: a white supremacist astride a golf cart in a Florida retirement community and a pistol-toting Karen shouting at peaceful Black protesters from the stoop of her St. Louis manse. As a statement of values, it’s grotesque. As a re-election strategy, it’s deranged.”
2. Alice Thomson in The Times
on the journey from leadership rival to de facto deputy
Gove is chief executive to Johnson’s chairman
“‘Michael is the mystery cat, he hides behind the door, for he’s the silent minister, who can decide the law, he’s the bafflement of the lobby, the backbenchers’ despair, for when they reach the scene of crime, the Govey’s never there.’ It’s easy to think that Michael Gove has been sidelined as minister for the Cabinet Office. According to this view, the man who stabbed Boris Johnson in the front in the 2016 Tory leadership contest sits at home eating Mrs Gove’s roast chicken and going on surreptitious runs while his daughter rules TikTok. But it’s not true. The double act has never been Boris and Dom, it’s Johnson and Gove. He is the chief executive to the prime minister’s chairman. He is also the link to Dominic Cummings, who was his adviser before he became Mr Johnson’s consiglieri and right-hand man. As one senior former Tory cabinet minister says, ‘Boris Johnson knows there is a Venn diagram of people who support Brexit and competent cabinet ministers and there’s only one person in the middle: Michael Gove.’”
3. Frances Ryan in The Guardian
on the dangers of ending lockdown
Boris Johnson is gambling with shielders’ lives by ending support on 1 August
“In the coming months, there is going to have to be an acknowledgment that there will be a number of ‘extremely vulnerable’ people who will feel the need to shield past the government’s end date, and for ministers to not cut these people off as if the problem is somehow over. To protect your life in a pandemic is not silly or paranoid but a difficult personal choice based on anything from medical history and childcare to job security. This is a time of incredible stress, where people already coping with disabilities and chronic illness are being asked to deal with the pressure of long-term isolation and daily decisions as to how to stay safe. Johnson’s government has a duty to protect those at highest risk for as long as coronavirus is a threat. No matter what ministers say, this is not over yet.”
4. James Dowling in The Daily Telegraph
on the prime minister’s promise of a 'Rooseveltian' spending spree
We have nothing to fear but the certainty of tax rises
“In repeating his opposition to austerity, the Prime Minister, whatever else he is doing, is therefore recognising the fiscal reality that you cannot cut spending. The corollary, which he also nodded towards, is that over time you therefore need to raise taxes if you want to balance the books. The Prime Minister did not deny this - and, in fact, arguably went further by refusing to back the Conservative manifesto’s ‘tax lock’ under which we would have seen no rises in the main rates of Income Tax, VAT and National Insurance for the duration of the Parliament. Instead, Boris Johnson simply said that he wanted to ensure the tax burden remained ‘reasonable’ - a much more elastic and relative measure. However the Prime Minister tries to soften the blow, the reality - which presumably he would rather the Chancellor conveyed - remains that tax rises are inevitable.”
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––For a round-up of the most important stories from around the world - and a concise, refreshing and balanced take on the week’s news agenda - try The Week magazine. Start your trial subscription today –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
5. Cristina Ariza, extremism research analyst at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, in The Independent
on the pandemic providing conditions for the far right to thrive
The far right knows exactly how to capitalise on a crisis like coronavirus
“Seldom have we seen such a combination of what experts in extremism call “push factors” at play: rising unemployment; fears over economic stability; mental health issues; personal loss; divisive political rhetoric. And worryingly, some of the key demographics of recruiters – including young people – will be on the receiving end of this. It does not help that far-right groups have already framed this crisis as a side effect of globalisation, which might sound appealing to those who feel ‘left behind’. While recent polls in Europe do not paint the far right as a winner, far right parties will nevertheless try to capitalise on the opportunities presented by the pandemic to demand border closures and crackdowns on immigration.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Saint Paul de Vence: a paradise for art lovers
The Week Recommends The hilltop gem in the French Riviera where 20th century modernism flourished
By Alexandra Zagalsky Published
-
'People in general want workers to earn a decent living'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
What might a Trump victory mean for the global economy?
Today's Big Question A second term in office for the 'America First' administration would send shockwaves far beyond the United States' shores
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
10 things you need to know today: January 7, 2024
Daily Briefing White House reportedly left unaware of defense secretary’s hospitalization, Biden to deliver State of the Union address on March 7, and more
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Flies attack Donald Trump
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
10 things you need to know today: September 5, 2023
Daily Briefing President Biden courts unions on Labor Day, thousands leave Burning Man after being trapped by desert mud, and more
By Harold Maass Published
-
‘Irony’ as Zoom calls staff back to office
feature And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden Published
-
Donald Trump criminal charges for 6 January could strain 2024 candidacy
Speed Read Former president’s ‘pettifoggery’ won’t work well at trial, said analyst
By Chas Newkey-Burden Published
-
The U.S. veterinarian shortage crisis
Speed Read With an anticipated shortage of 15,000 vets by 2030, it will be harder to get care for pets
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Donald Trump in the dock: a fraught moment for US democracy
Talking Point There is speculation that former president could end up running his 2024 election campaign from behind bars
By The Week Staff Published
-
Boris Johnson shocks UK by resigning from Parliament
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published