Rate the Hate

On our Power Line VIP show last night, I raised the question of how the left’s hatred (including that of the mainstream media) of President Trump compares to its hatred of previous Republican presidents, especially Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush. John, Scott, and I followed politics closely during all of these administrations. Steve is a historian and biographer of Reagan.

Setting the left’s hate rating of Donald Trump at 100, I came up with the following scores:

Nixon 90
Reagan 80
G.W. Bush 80

John, Scott, and Steve agreed, I think, that these numbers seem right.

If so, it’s clear to me that the left’s hatred of Trump has more to do with the fact that he stands in the way of their path to power than with any of Trump’s character traits or policies. (Trump is much more hated by some conservatives than his predecessors were, but I’m writing here only about left/mainstream media hatred).

The only Republican president in my nearly 60 years of following politics that hasn’t been hated by the left at levels approaching that directed at Trump is George H.W. Bush. He was treated more venomously than he deserved (as have some Democratic presidents, to be fair), but not nearly to the degree of the other Republicans discussed above.

Keep in mind, however, that this Bush was a one-term president. Had he been reelected, the hatred would almost certainly have increased.

But then, Trump has only served three years so far. If he is reelected, his hate rating will surely increase, as difficult as that is to imagine.

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