Democrats, moderate Republicans and non-Trumpist Americans in general are dying of envy and anxiety when they see themselves in the mirror that Boris Johnson’s resignation has placed in their faces as a reminder of what seems impossible in their country: expulsion of the public life of the political cousin of the British premier, the former president but still a leader and candidate for return, Donald Trump.
“The Conservatives in the UK have done what the Republicans in the US have never dared to do,” comments the CNN analyst. “It’s worth taking time to appreciate the delightful implosion of future ex-Prime Minister Johnson,” the New York Times commentator says “jealously.”
While pointing out the affinity and similarities between the two characters, progressive politicians and media in the United States these days highlight the differences in the system that would partly explain the contrast between Johnson’s forced resignation and Trump’s permanence despite the seriousness of the the accusations against him, including that of leading a coup attempt.
The greater weight of Parliament and the ruling party, whose elected representatives decide who can lead them and aspire to govern, would be one of the keys.
But the Republicans had the opportunity to bring down Trump in the two impeachments voted on by Congress in 2019 and 2021, and they did not. And in 1974 the leaders of the same party did force Richard Nixon to leave when he was resisting after the Watergate case.
The decisive reason for Trump’s resistance, in the face of Johnson’s fall, lies in the power that he maintains within the party: among the bases and, consequently, among a majority of senior officials with the aspiration to maintain or renew positions and that they either remain faithful to him, or avoid criticizing him, or even renege on previous criticism, for fear of losing his support. A support that until now they saw as decisive to survive at the polls.
But the situation can change. Not a few candidates for the November legislative elections with that support from Trump have lost the primaries. And it remains to be seen whether those who won them will beat their Democratic opponents. As it also remains to be seen if the growing evidence against the former president for his role in the assault on the Capitol in January 2020 continues to be innocuous for him. Johnson already said: “No one is indispensable in politics.” Not even Trump.
