Biden and Trump have mirrored classified documents scandals and while Trump’s is worse he is so good at dragging Biden down to his level that it’s becoming hard for the average voter to tell them apart.
In an ironic twist president Joe Biden is mixed up in the exact kind of scandal as his hated rival Donald Trump; both have apparently kept sensitive classified documents in their homes after leaving office. When I wrote about Trump’s documents scandal I made the point that going after Trump for what appears to an outsider like a victimless crime is poor politics as it validates Trump’s claims that the dreaded “Establishment” is out to get him. I also pointed out that faith in legal institutions is decided by appearances of fairness and non-partisanship as intentions of fairness and non-partisanship. The fact that the Department of Justice (DoJ) chose to raid Trump’s home but not Biden’s doesn’t look good. Defenders of Biden will point out that unlike in the Trump case Biden actively worked with the DoJ instead of resisting it, and that is certainly true. The problem for me is how Trump’s rhetoric undermines American institutions and changes an apples to oranges comparison to an apples to apples comparison.
As I’ve said, I don’t particularly care about the issue of mishandling classified documents. I don’t find it as scandalous as a violent crime or corruption would be. And the fact that the two latest presidents both have these kinds of issues suggests to me an institutional problem which either classifies too many documents, or has too lax rules about which documents presidents are allowed to bring home. The real issue is the politics and optics of these cases and how the DoJ and liberal-leaning commentators give Biden slack while being tough on Trump. There was a period in 2017 when many of the commentators I read and listened to debated whether Trump’s victory in 2016 was down to luck or skill. Some thought he was a low key political genius, and while that view is fairly rare to see now given Trump’s record as president I genuinely think his focus on demonising the “Establishment” was a stroke of genius.
It is easy to frame the differences in how the Biden documents scandal is handled versus how the Trump documents scandal is handled as “Deep State” prejudice against Trump. As I wrote last year: ‘Holding Trump accountable is possible, but it will be difficult and it’s vital to remember that due to his immense political influence any legal action against Trump has to be conducted differently than it would have been for any other person. […] if the DoJ doesn’t realise that any case involving Trump will inevitably be about politics just as much as it is about law, then it won’t overcome Trump’s anti-establishment narrative.’ Unfortunately, if Biden is to beat Trump’s anti-Establishment narrative he has to constantly maintain a higher standard of conduct than Trump, and I’m genuinely very confused as to why Biden didn’t make sure he had no classified documents in his garage before he publicly criticised Trump for keeping classified documents. Practically every serious newspaper has an explainer or article about how the two scandals are distinct and that the Trump case is more egregious, but the legalities are secondary. Saying that it was “irresponsible” when Trump kept classified documents and that he had “no regrets” about not saying that classified documents had been discovered at his house before the midterm elections is an own goal of epic proportions by Biden.
Until now I have focused on the political aspect of these two mirrored scandals and blindly accepted the premise that Biden’s scandal is more forgivable than Trump’s, but I don’t think Trump’s allies have to resort to lies and anti-Establishment tropes; there are real arguments to say that Biden’s scandal is if not as serious as Trump’s at least very serious. The Guardian reports that some of the classified documents found at Biden’s home are from his tenure as vice president, and that some are from his time as senator for Delaware. This means that some of the documents are from at the latest 2008 when Obama became president. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to say that keeping classified material for 14 years is more serious than keeping classified material for two years. There’s also a case to be made that Biden’s problems with mishandling classified material clearly isn’t a one off mistake but a series of mistakes over the last 15 years.
To reiterate, I’m not very invested in the merits of either of these cases, but it is disheartening to see Biden, whose entire pitch for being president was that he was more serious than Trump, continually and habitually making silly mistakes and playing right into Trump’s anti-Establishment rhetoric. Biden may well be a more responsible politician than Trump, but he fails to grasp Trump’s appeal. And his clear lack of understanding Trump’s politics means that he often adds fuel to Trump’s anti-Establishment bonfire, dragging the faith in America’s political and legal institutions down with him. Comparing Trump and Biden is comparing apple to orange, but their mud fights make it increasingly difficult for the average voter to tell them apart.
If you liked this post you can read a previous post about NATO here or the rest of my writings here. It would mean a lot to me if you recommended the blog to a friend or coworker. Come back next Monday for a new post!
I've always been interested in politics, economics, and the interplay between. The blog is a place for me to explore different ideas and concepts relating to economics or politics, be that national or international. The goal for the blog is to make you think; to provide new perspectives.
Written by Karl Johansson
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