I know that after you leave office as POTUS it is some sort of unwritten rule that you withdraw from politics.

Why did Trump not withdraw?

Also why isn’t he a senator or congressman during Biden’s term?

  • @WhaleScenery
    link
    89
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    Unfortunately political systems are often held together with “tradition” and “gentleman’s agreements”, where conventions dictate how people should behave. Politicians typically followed them because it is seen as the honourable and right thing to do.

    However, it seems to be a recent trend among the hard right that politicians just ignore those conventions because:

    a) those conventions are inconvenient b) honour means nothing to them, and c) nothing actually enforces those unwritten rules - so there are no consequences for ignoring them

    Similar things have happened here in the UK as well. I guess our political systems both assume some degree of good will & trust in its representatives, and it generally turns out that trust is misplaced.

    • @BigBlackCockroachOP
      link
      221 year ago

      You make a great case for getting rid of implicit rules and making them explicit at least within the current political environment (I mean the resurgence of fascism and other inhuman currents)

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      -671 year ago

      It’s not typical just for the right around here, the left does it as well. Who does it more… I would speculate they both do equally.

      • @cynar
        link
        English
        451 year ago

        Can you give an example? All the ones I’ve seen are either from the (far) right, or a direct reaction to the (far) right bucking traditional rules.

          • @cynar
            link
            English
            301 year ago

            I didn’t really expect them to answer. 90% of the time you just get to watch them scuttle off to hide, like cockroaches from the light. 9% of the time you get soundbite diarrhea, which is easy to debunk.

            The last 1% can be interesting however. A well thought out counter argument to something I believe. It is a good check, to make sure I’m not the one in the bubble. It also lets me understand those on the other side of a debate. It’s reached the point where 1% is being generous, however.

            • Rhynoplaz
              link
              71 year ago

              I heard they found illegally downloaded Metallica songs on Hunter’s laptop!!! Checkmate, libtards!

              • @cynar
                link
                English
                11 year ago

                And here we run into Poe’s law ☹️. I’m hoping you dropped this --> /s

                • Rhynoplaz
                  link
                  11 year ago

                  It’s really hard to tell sometimes, isn’t it? 😂

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          English
          -9
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          Yes I can. One of the prime ministers we had was convicted but abolished by the president. He was in a left oriented party, the president was in the same one. He didn’t retire from politics, he went on to become our prime minister.

          • @cynar
            link
            English
            121 year ago

            Unfortunately, that is so stripped down that it’s impossible to analyse it in any reasonable way. It sounds like more run-of-the-mill corruption rather than bucking tradition though. Corruption is a problem of humanity, rather than just one side. Though even that seems a lot more prevalent and egregious in the right, right now.

            • @[email protected]
              link
              fedilink
              English
              -8
              edit-2
              1 year ago

              If you want the full story or details, PM me, I’ll disclose the names of the people and thus, the country I live in (which is what I’m trying to hide in this case).

              • @cynar
                link
                English
                91 year ago

                I think it says a lot that your only example is either from a country so small that it would help dox you, or with other issues that would overshadow it.

                I could, fairly trivially, locate multiple examples of right wing politicians abusing the traditions that support the country’s government. While my own has its issues, I’m not limited to it.

                Considering the original post was focused on the US and their current problems, your original comment implied that it applied there. The fact you haven’t offered a single US based example is extremely telling.

                Btw, Feel free to PM me the details, if you like.

      • @Scotty_Trees
        link
        151 year ago

        Just to be clear, your statement is disingenuous at best. You didn’t even provide a single example of evidence or fact to back up your claim, but used your own “speculation” as an ultimate authority. You really just sound like someone severely ill informed.

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          English
          -81 year ago

          Scroll down the comments, I did provide an example. If you want more details, PM me, we can discuss in private. I don’t want to disclose publically the country I live in.

            • @[email protected]
              link
              fedilink
              English
              1
              edit-2
              1 year ago

              No, nothing like that.

              But we do have a flawed democracy implementation and greedy corrupted polititians.

      • Rhynoplaz
        link
        151 year ago

        Still waiting on those examples… 🙄

          • SatansMaggotyCumFart
            link
            131 year ago

            It’s okay, you can just admit you’re full of shit.

            It’s the internet, no one really cares.

              • SatansMaggotyCumFart
                link
                141 year ago

                Why would I PM with you?

                I’m interacting with you on a public forum and if you don’t like to do that maybe Lemmy isn’t the right choice of social media for you.

                • @[email protected]
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  -10
                  edit-2
                  1 year ago

                  Because I already said I don’t want to disclose publicly where I live 😒 🤦.

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    English
    68
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    You can’t say “no politics intended” and then directly discuss politics. The answer will invariably include politics.

    Trump didn’t want to be a politician. He wanted to be president. Being a senator or congressman is a job, but being president is a mark of prestige. If he can become president again, he will, because it makes him look good. There’s no point for him in taking a lower position with less power.

    • Hegar
      link
      fedilink
      71 year ago

      Are you looking at this picture, reading this post and then attempting to seriously debate the author on the merits of their argument of no-politics “inteded”?

    • @logicbomb
      link
      51 year ago

      When people say “no pun intended,” it is always right after they’ve made a completely intentional pun.

      When a person says “no offense [intended], but,” it is always right before they say something intentionally offensive.

      What I’m saying is that maybe this grammar “no X intended” doesn’t actually mean that literally they don’t intend X, but instead that they want to lessen their culpability for exactly intending X.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      51 year ago

      All excellent points except he has a real dire agenda if he is president again and it’s not just to make him look good.

    • @BigBlackCockroachOP
      link
      -11 year ago

      You are right, but what I meant was, that I didn’t ask from a political point of view, just wanted to understand from a technical point of view. Like I understand that once you have been president you retire. But trump didnt retire. So since he is continuing on, why in the meantime isn’t he in congress or senate?

      I thought obama, bush, clinton are just not in senate or congress because they were president, following the unwritten rule.

      So since trump didnt retire why isnt he in congress or the senate. I think he would have gotten a vote in florida or other such states.

      yeah but what you say makes sense, so it is just to do with trumps personality profile…

  • @logicbomb
    link
    641 year ago

    Trump actually promised to leave us alone if he lost. He also suggested that he’d move to a foreign country.

    “If I lose to [Biden], I don’t know what I’m going to do. I will never speak to you again,” Trump told supporters at a rally in North Carolina.

    Trump made similar remarks in 2016 when he rivaled Hillary Clinton for the presidency: “I don’t think I’m going to lose, but if I do, I don’t think you’re ever going to see me again, folks,” Trump said. “I think I’ll go to Turnberry and play golf or something.”

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    321 year ago

    Here’s an article to give you a little more context historically :

    https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/11/16/few-former-presidents-have-run-for-their-old-jobs-or-anything-else-after-leaving-office/

    But the answer to your question is probably found in the fact that Trump never ran for any other office, much less served. (I could argue he never served as president either, he only took and had others serve him, but that would be bringing “politics” into it.) He ran as an “Outsider,” who was unstained by the inevitable compromises of working with others, who was going to run the country like a business. He did. If you look at how he ran his business affairs, it’s pretty consistent with his presidency.

    He’s got a lot of power still in the Republican Party, without having to spend any time working on legislation or living in DC.

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    31
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    He doesn’t want that. He wants to be the guy who was “wronged” in the last election.

    I mean, he’s making bank off of donations just from beating that dead horse. Why work when you can just scream and cry and have people throw money at you?

    Also, considering the size of his ego, he probably doesn’t want anything less than being the top guy. That’s all that matters to him.

    Another poster said something about a “gentlemen’s agreement”, which isn’t wrong. The US has (generally) tried to maintain the peaceful transfer of power. They didn’t plan on a scumbag throwing a bitch fit to keep that from happening.

    • @BigBlackCockroachOP
      link
      91 year ago

      I suspected being a senator or congressman would be actually quiet difficult and Trump may not be cut out for it. thanks for your insight shrewbacca

  • @xantoxis
    link
    211 year ago

    In fairness to Trump, he’s been pretty busy defending himself from a record number of indictments. Gets in the way of political participation.

    • @tpihkal
      link
      101 year ago

      *the media tried to convince anyone to give a shit.

      FTFY

    • @BigBlackCockroachOP
      link
      11 year ago

      Obama had a different color suit

      Ah yeah the “Barack Obama tan suit controversy” of 2014

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    161 year ago

    Presidents don’t generally take a demotion. Why isn’t Obama in Congress?

    Especially in Trump’s case, he’s still very much involved in politics, trying to run for another term in 2024. That’s the most impactful move he can make now, and any other long-term commitments would interfere with his campaigning (and all the legal battles he’s part of).

  • conciselyverbose
    link
    fedilink
    151 year ago

    I don’t think Trump is the first to run for president after being voted out.

    Not running for a lesser office is way more the “unwritten rule”.

      • @Zoboomafoo
        link
        71 year ago

        Grover Cleveland did just that, he’s the only US President to serve two nonconsecutive terms.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grover_Cleveland

        The ideal president in American culture does what George Washington did, serve two terms then retire. Being a one term president is seen as a failure and a rejection of their policies, so relection is unlikely

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    131 year ago

    I don’t give af if my president has horrible hair or a terrible fake tan, as long as they have good policies. There’s a million bad things to say about Trump but picking on his looks just serves to divide us instead of focusing on real issues. Hell my senator looks like Lurch and wears basketball shorts instead of suits but he’s doing great things, so I support him.

    • HMN
      link
      fedilink
      2
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      Lowest common denominator. Easy content that’s bound to get clicks. When this happens, in my mind it begins to cast doubt on criticisms. It literally just becomes the orange man bad memes. Sometimes I feel like pointless division is the point. Quarrelling among ourselves while they sit in their hypocritical ivory towers.

      while, not whole

  • @fubo
    link
    131 year ago

    Lack of competence, decency, and love for his country?

  • @gutternonsense
    link
    13
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    John Quincy Adams went on to become a Representative for MA in the House and I’d argue was the only real demotion post-presidency.

    William Taft went to the Supreme Court after his Presidency (not exactly a lateral move in and of itself) but was the Chief Justice so it’s probably close. Then again institutions powers wax and wane over time, so it could be argued that it was a demotion.

    Lastly, kind of a bonus factoid of post-presidency activity – Teddy Roosevelt, after serving a term plus some (edit: he took over the presidency as the VP after McKinley’s assassination) and was a Republican. He later ran in 1912 as a candidate for the Bull-Moose Party after a rift in the Republican party when they nominated the above W. Taft instead of himself or another more Progressive Republican.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      21 year ago

      How is SC seat a demotion? The only real power the president has is wartime, and Americans aren’t fond of war especially if it has a chance to end up at their borders.

      • @Twista713
        link
        31 year ago

        In addition to the veto power mentioned above, there’s also the power to issue executive orders and to nominate judges, including supreme justices. Those are fairly significant. There’s also the influence they have over foreign policy.

    • @ChickenLadyLovesLife
      link
      English
      11 year ago

      Teddy Roosevelt gets all the glory for his “a man, a plan, a canal: panama” palindrome, but everybody forgets “Taft: fat”.

      • @glimse
        link
        81 year ago

        Yet… You attached a Facebook political meme…

        • @STUPIDVIPGUY
          link
          English
          41 year ago

          Nothing political about saying trump looks like an absolute fool. His spray tan is gross and his hair looks dead

          • @glimse
            link
            31 year ago

            “imagine how Republicans would act…”

            Yeah you’re right that picture definitely isn’t political lol

            I’m sure we both agree with the message but…pretending it’s not political is foolish

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    111 year ago

    He already sat in the highest seat. He’d never lower himself to anything below that. To my knowledge, no former-president has ever taken a lower seat in government. Many still find seats of power, but outside the government, I think.