By Ron Cheong | Photo by A.I

How could a known non-stop liar, self-absorbed narcissist, con man, swindler (who has been involved in more than 4,000 court cases), insurrectionist (which resulted in people killed at the Capitol), treasonous (the Classified Documents), convicted felon (by jury of his peers), fascist (he will only be a dictator for one day), anti-immigrant hypocrite (two of his three wives have been immigrants), be elected President of the United, the most powerful country in the world. 

Does character matter anymore? Or has the country been ripped apart by blind tribal fealty?

Non-negotiable Minimum Ethical Standards – Trumps Everything Else 

Let’s suspend for the moment the threat to democracy, the economy, abortion, and gun control. Let’s suspend for the moment all the debatable issues a candidate may or may not stand for and promise or not promise, or communicate or fail to communicate.

In my mind, one non-negotiable essential quality overshadows all else– the candidate’s character.

There has to be some level of demonstrated ethical conduct. Truthfulness is essential, where would we be without truth in this world? 

In this election, the evidence for evaluating this factor was vastly more abundant and available than in almost every decision we have ever made.  

We are not talking about various character flaws that each of us has.   We are talking about the most egregious conduct on public display – the non-stop lying, the attempted insurrection in what has been held high – a beacon of hope for all the world to aspire to: the United States of America. In addition to the big ones, there is the bullying, the insulting, the public mocking of a disabled reporter, the misappropriation of funds from his charity, the dubious insurance claims, the tax dodges, and the nine bankruptcies that left others holding the bag. And there is the little thing of him calling fallen veterans losers and suckers. He said he would like to see Liz Cheney, a Republican and a former vice president’s daughter, facing nine gunbarrels and shot in the face.

Are these things acceptable, or are they completely invisible to MAGA supporters? Has Trump so thoroughly fractured America into a tribal mindset that MAGA supporters stand completely blindfolded, having surrendered any free will they may have had and had it replaced by fealty to him?  

Anyone seeking the highest job in the land has to have some non-negotiable level of integrity and conduct. If he were applying for a lever government job, such as a policeman, sanitation worker, or McDonald’s server, that resume would disqualify him immediately. This is not the case for him as an applicant for the Presidency of the US.

All the above is well known; anybody can access it in this information age.

Is it that his MAGA supporters don’t care? Have they been numbed into blindness? There was a time when America would have been appalled by this. President Richard Nixon was turfed out of office by his Republican party for considerably less. But Trump not only attracts the worst around him, he compromises people into behaving in ways you would never have thought possible. For the most part, with few exceptions, the Republican House and Senate members mimic his behavior and submit to every edict he issues. 

Controversial Cabinet Picks – Hunters to Become the Hunted

Trump won this election sweepingly, taking the Presidency, the Senate, and the House. He made gains in the segment collectively described as Latino, the 18 to 29-year-old, less-educated, lower-income Catholic who believed the economy was poor. This was aided by a nine million lower Democratic voter participation than in 2020.

And he wasted no time naming his cabinet picks. Trump’s cabinet picks sent shockwaves throughout the country and worldwide. He named Matt Gaetz, who the Justice Department Attorney General had investigated. Gaetz resigned almost immediately from Congress to stymie the imminent release of the Ethics Committee report on him concerning human trafficking and sex with underage females. House leader Mike Johnson, a devout Christian, also plays his part. He is now opposing the release of the report.

Fox Commentator Pete Hegseth has been picked for Defense Secretary, a critical government agency for which he has absolutely no experience other than being an extreme right-wing commentator with total loyalty to Trump. 

Anti-vaccine proponent and spreader of disinformation, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has been picked as Health Secretary to the panic of the medical community.

Elon Musk has reportedly requested that Trump appoint his senior SpaceX officials to oversee the departments that award billions of dollars in contracts to SpaceX.

Amid the widespread shock over these appointments, Senators, Congressmen, and other spokespersons from the Republican Tribe are being trotted out to defend them – their line: Trump has been given a sweeping mandate to “shake u” the system and clean up the swamp, and that’s what he’s doing.

To ensure these appointments stick, Trump is looking to prevent the Senate from vetting his controversial picks for some of the most powerful government positions, demanding that Republican leaders in the Senate agree to allow recess appointments without vetting. 

Things are off to a rocky start and will get worse, with Trump looking for revenge. Steve Bannon recently issued a threat aimed at Attorney General Merrick, Special Prosecutor Jack Smith, and New York Attorney General Letitia James. The theaters will become the hunted. 

Republican Tribal Behavior– Democrats’ Independent Thinking to Their Detriment

In closing, it has to be said that while MAGA seems like a tribe, the Democrat voters appear to be anything but that. There hasn’t been any credible data-based analysis for the 9 million drop in Democratic votes from 2020, which would have surely put them over the top again in this election. But if we assume the election was completely free and fair and that any disenfranchisement of voters did not have a big effect, then it would appear that these democratic voters just didn’t turn out or did not mark the top box in protest against some issue they felt strongly about.

This display of independent thinking among the Democrats augers well for at least half of the country. But sometimes, you have to put individual issues aside for the sake of the larger good.

This was especially true for this existential election with so much at stake. Four years is a long time, and much damage can be done. Trump told his supporters that this was the last election they would have to vote in – whatever that meant. Also, his cabinet announcements plans to purge top generals in the military, intentions to replace professional staffing in government agencies with Trump loyalists, and the possibility that he will be able to appoint some younger justices to the Supreme must be viewed with great alarm. These have long-term ramifications for the country.

Hopefully, when the next election comes around, Democrats will have learned that at these critical points, every vote counts, and if there was indeed some holdback on their votes, they haven’t done themselves any favors. What they will now get is worse than anything voting for the Democratic Presidential candidate would have resulted in. 

For Republican voters, it is hoped that the pendulum swings back a little and some realize that character does matter. Maybe this should be the first hurdle a candidate has to clear before being considered—nothing brings this point home clearer than the present situation.

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Ron Cheong is a retired banker with extensive international experience, including the Caribbean, and is a Fellow of the Institute of Canadian Bankers with a BSc from the University of Toronto.

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