It’s An Anti-Corruption Mindset

Deep Thinker and Destroyer of Weak Arguments Ben Shapiro everyone:

Ben Shapiro suggests that Trump can “argue plausibly that Burisma was part-and-parcel of his general anti-corruption concern.” The problem here is that Trump does not have a “general anti-corruption concern.” Quite the opposite. His long-standing view about corruption is that it’s simply how business gets done. He has called for eliminating the federal law prohibiting American businesspeople from bribing foreign officials, sought to cut funding for anti-corruption programs oversees, collected payments from interested foreign and domestic parties, refused to disclose his financial interests, and allied himself with the most corrupt figures in Ukraine. To the extent he has any colorable claim of opposing corruption, it would be in the fact that Joe Biden’s son traded on his father’s name, except Trump’s kids are doing the same thing right now.

Trump’s use of “corruption” is not “part and parcel” of anything. It is in its entirety a pretext to discredit his domestic rivals.

Similarly, Tony Soprano whipping Ronald Zellman with his belt was part of a general anti-corruption concern.

But, hey, defending Trump means making humiliatingly bad arguments part of the job description:

Trump famously declared he wouldn’t lose any support if he shot somebody on Fifth Avenue. The crucial dynamic here is that if he did try this, while conservatives might initially experience some dismay, they would quickly recover and produce the same counterarguments. The Journal would be pointing out that the person he shot is in critical but stable condition and might well survive, thereby clearing Trump of murder. Hewitt would be noting that Andrew Jackson in the War of 1812, U.S. Grant in the Civil War, and Teddy Roosevelt at San Juan Hill are all examples of other presidents who have shot people. Shapiro would suggest Trump was perhaps just pursuing his long-standing interest in fighting urban crime.