In this Thomas Edsall piece, he quotes quite a few historians and political scientists about Trump's corruption. (Or as the Times headline writers would have it: "norms flouting behavior.")
The point of the piece is that Trump's brazen assault on every single idea we have about presidential self-dealing is its own defense. It's "flood the zone" tactics designed to obscure that he's accepting billions in gifts and emoluments.
One of the scholars notes that "corruption" has a deeper meaning, especially in earlier eras. Corruption was not simple graft. Corruption was rot. It was the rot that existed in a closed system of cronies and favorites that surrounded a monarch. Corruption was not an act, it was a state of being. The piece goes on to note that MAGA believes the "real corruption" is Democrats rigging the game in favor of transgender immigrant gang members. That this perception is largely a creation, a fiction, remains the insurmountable obstacle Democrats face as they claw themselves back to political relevance.
However, hammering the overall corruption issue - not just the Qatari "flying palace" but the idea of a corrupted system - will resonate once the GOP budget hits.
Hammer the corruption. Hammer it.
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