Trump's dangerous triumphalism

If America is to be great, it must also acknowledge its collective flaws

President Trump.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Getty Images, iStock)

If President Trump has his way, the 2020 presidential election won't be a referendum on his actual performance in office — his ongoing failure to contain the coronavirus pandemic, the resulting destruction of the economy — but about who gets to define American history, and how.

The president made his intentions clear during a pair of Independence Day weekend speeches, ordering the creation of a "Garden of Heroes" to contain monuments to his favorite historical figures — such as the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia — and vowing to defend existing monuments, as well as a triumphalist telling of America's history, from those who might tear them down.

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Joel Mathis, The Week US

Joel Mathis is a freelance writer who has spent nine years as a syndicated columnist, co-writing the RedBlueAmerica column as the liberal half of a point-counterpoint duo. His work also regularly appears in National Geographic, The Kansas City Star and Heatmap News. His awards include best online commentary at the Online News Association and (twice) at the City and Regional Magazine Association.