Maybe a little too apt…
Newt Gingrich has said that Trump will be "at least as reliable" as Andrew Jackson as Pres. A historian responds: pic.twitter.com/ExXqLgULRg
— Adam Smith (@aipsmith) August 9, 2016
Ed Kilgore, in NYMag:
Newt Gingrich’s comment to the New York Times today that Donald Trump is at least as mentally stable as President Andrew Jackson feels refreshingly honest in the world of political flacking. This is his answer in response to the question of whether Trump is psychologically fit for the Oval Office:
“Sure. I mean, he is at least as reliable as Andrew Jackson, who was one of the most decisive presidents in American history,” Gingrich continued. “Nobody would have predicted Abraham Lincoln’s capabilities before he became president, and most people didn’t believe him while he was president.”
….But as a serial duelist and someone who became completely unhinged at any insult to his or his country’s perceived honor, Old Hickory might not have been considered well suited to the presidency in an era of complicated, real-time diplomacy — much less nuclear weapons.
Indeed, what is known as the “Jacksonian tradition” in U.S. foreign policy is the highly anachronistic belief that America should remain disengaged with other countries unless they provoke Uncle Sam and hence earn total annihilation. Trump has already been identified with that tradition by a number of experts who observe in him a “deep repugnance” toward diplomacy, alliances, or the limited use of military power. It is not a compliment.
Y’know, Newton Leroy Gingrich is a failure as a human being, a blot on the political landscape, and a joke as a ‘historian’, but he’s a very good con artist. None of President Jackson’s misdeeds are going to hurt him with Trump’s voting base, but it’s going to come as news to some low-info voters who may vaguely remember that there was some kinda media fuss about that Jackson dude when Treasury announced the new Tubman currency proposals. Now that President Donald Trump is looking less and less liable to happen, could it be that… just possibly… The Newt wants to shiv a guy who’ll be looking to muscle in on Gingrich’s “former celebrity stateman” grift, come December?….
Naaah.
Open Thread: Newt Finds An Apt ComparisonPost + Comments (250)