President Donald Trump only paid $750 worth of taxes in 2016 and 2017. This should be a cause for uproar and a call for discipline. This should shock the news waves and sway public opinion. But it won’t.
Trump has gotten away with much worse, and at this point in his presidency, there isn’t a lot more he can do to surprise anyone. If a voter still supports him, then there is most likely no changing that.
Even though former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris both released their tax returns, that won’t have any real effect. This is not a moment to try and capitalize on. It is a moment to show transparency and is a mere formality. Not to mention, it is a basic, common decency that all elected officials should take.
Clearly, the standards for politicians are low.
Political sentiment has evolved into a party-over-country mentality, and has resulted in a dog fight to keep certain parties in power. So no matter what illegal or unconstitutional action Trump takes, federal Republicans will still support him.
Even if individual Republicans on Capitol Hill disapprove of Trump’s actions, they can’t do much to dismiss him. Not only can they be ostracized for breaking from unconditional unity, but they need him to be re-elected in order to maintain their party’s dominance in government.
At any other point in history, if a president was embroiled in even half the controversies Trump has been in, he likely would’ve already been removed from office without question. But partisan politics has granted Trump great protection and forgiveness.
It must be noted that Democrats are just as likely to protect their party members. While they are much more divided internally, they have a strong outward unity in order to keep their party in power. Would U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., outwardly denounce the Dems? Probably not.
Disregarding what side of the aisle you lean toward, we all want a president with objectively good morals and intentions to genuinely improve our country. But deep party devotion has caused extreme polarization among elected officials and their members — only further guarding Trump from the repercussions of his actions.
As a result, this new information won’t have a major effect on the upcoming election.
Polls have stayed relatively consistent throughout the race between the two presidential candidates — Biden has been ahead since March, according to FiveThirtyEight’s average of polling data.
A September poll from Quinnipiac University also reported 3 percent of likely voters are undecided. Meanwhile, only 5 percent of voters who have a preferred candidate would change their mind, according to an August Pew Research Center report.
Data such as these can always be skewed, as not every demographic of America is necessarily accounted for. But it is evident that voters are becoming more fixed in their loyalty to candidates.
There are few “in-between” voters these days, which is going to make the election that much more decisive — Trump relied on those middle-ground votes in 2016.
Moving forward, additional revelations won’t really affect the election, especially as voters head to the polls early and begin sending in their ballots. These people can no longer change their mind.
Trump’s deviance from the traditional and accepted roles of a president have seemingly done little to public opinion: many made their choice when he first ran for president, and they have only become more loyal or more opposed to his presidency.
There is, however, a faction of previous Trump voters who are disillusioned enough to regret their 2016 ballot. But this is not the case for the majority of his base.
The overarching and lasting impression that Trump will leave on this country, whether he wins the election or not, is that he has abused the congressional powers granted to him.
He has done so many illegal, offensive and divisive things that the country can no longer be surprised by his actions. The release of his embarrassingly low payment of taxes, even this close to an election, will most likely get lost in the news cycle. Another episode of Trump committing a wrongful, un-presidential act and not being held accountable.
How can we fix democracy after four years of Trump, and potentially four more?
Now more than ever, Americans are distrusting of their democracy and all the loopholes that have allowed Trump to run things the way he has.
Whether Trump or Biden is victorious come November, we will certainly have a messy transition into the next four years. The precedents Trump has set might just transform the Oval Office into a playground for future presidents to abuse their powers.
