For the most partisan of Americans, Donald Trump evokes either the most visceral negative reaction, or the most adoring adulation. As I said a few weeks ago, this I still find strange. When looking back at his tenure as President, I find many things to applaud and many things to condemn. And Donald Trump and his legacy are still having an outsized footprint on our national landscape.

Yesterday morning I was reflecting on the historic changes to the Supreme Court, and I found myself smiling about the Trump/McConnell legacy. Whatever, you think of him personally, he campaigned in the fall of 2016 to end Roe, saying he would appoint justices that would send the issue back to the states. And I’m feeling increasingly confident that the monstrosity of Roe V Wade will soon be in the dustbin. At the minimum it’s going to have a serious body blow as Mississippi’s Law will almost certainly be upheld. From my perspective Donald Trump can legitimately say, “promises made, promises kept.” When you have never-Trumper’s belatedly writing NY Times Op-Ed‘s praising him in retrospect for his pro-life commitment exemplified in judicial appointments, that’s not a bad thing. And this goes way beyond Roe V Wade; this week offers a potential watershed in school choice programs, and last week featured a major case that could significantly curtail the administrative state going forward, as courts deference to the regulators may have limits. We have had 40+ years of liberal court mischief–it’s entirely possible that we may have a few decades of a conservative righting of the ship.*

And yet Mr. Trump continues to pursue what Mr. Trump cares about most: himself and his own pride and vanity. It’s impossible to have the counterfactual, i.e., what would have happened in Georgia’s senate elections outside Mr. Trump’s attacking the whole electoral process, but what we know for sure is that if the Republicans would have had the same # of votes in the runoff for their candidate that they had in November, they would easily have won Perdue’s seat. And while we would expect some level of drop-off between November and January, Perdue’s numbers dropped by almost 250k votes, while Ossoff only fell by ~105k votes. So while none of us can “know” for certain that Mr. Trump’s post-election tantrum cost us both Georgia seats, it’s hard not to think that when even one of Mr. Trump’s supposed legal spokesperson’s was urging Georgian’s not to vote until both Republican Senate candidates sweared fealty to Mr. Trump’s view of a stolen election. We’re in the 50-50 predicament now because of Mr. Trump. And that doesn’t include my firm belief that a more sober performance in his final year, with only a modicum of self-control, would have yielded Mr. Trump the presidency even with the Covid pandemic and the Democrats legal assault on voting rules, which no doubt helped the Democrats. But Mr. Trump never offered any serious evidence of the election fraud he suggested was everywhere.** There is one person’s actions more than any other that have led us to place we are today, for both good and ill: Donald Trump.

What’s the connection between Donald Trump, Al Gore, Hillary Clinton, Stacey Abrams?

Each one of these lost an election, refused to acknowledge their own shortcomings, and engaged in all sorts of conspiracies to say the election was stolen from them. In each case, their true believers buy into the lie. Stacey Abrams is now back running for Governor again, and Mr. Trump, in his desire to destroy those who did not side with him, has encouraged David Perdue to primary Republican Brian Kemp, who previously defeated Ms. Abrams in the last gubernatorial election in Georgia. It’s not clear how a primary fight is going to help Republicans win against a united Democratic party, but it is clear that Mr. Trump’s primary objective is not the good of the Republican party.

There are many Trump critics who will say, “we told you so, this was always his character.” They may be right. Yet that doesn’t negate the many good things Donald Trump did for America in his presidency. I will continue to applaud him for many of his previous actions, but it is time for the Trumpian true-believers for serious reflection: whose interest is Donald Trump most invested in with his actions from last year’s elections till now? How are his current efforts helping advance the conservative values of limited government, strong defense, moral conservatism? Is he most interested in seeking a better America or having those that disagree with him be politically ruined?

There was a time for Donald Trump, a necessary time. But that time is now over. We can, and must, do better.

* I think that the disaster of the Biden administration will likely lead not only to a widespread debacle for Democrats in 2022, but will also cost them the Presidency in 2024. Imagine if Breyer holds on through Biden, and a Republican is able to replace him, and perhaps Clarence Thomas. Progressives, that is your nightmare scenario, and it’s not exactly all that improbable.

** For those with access to WSJ op-eds, it might be helpful to read Mr. Trump’s own op-ed from a few months ago, along with the editor’s response.

EDIT: added a + to the 40 year mischief–depending upon when you want to start mischief has long been going on. Roe V Wade necessitates the 40+ at least.