Joe Biden must expunge Donald Trump's conspiracy theories, lies and racism from the US to be a truly great US President – Scotsman comment

In all the tumult since November’s US election, the most significant words were arguably not spoken by Joe Biden, as good as his inauguration speech was with its message of unity and defence of truth, or Donald Trump, but by the latter’s son at the now infamous rally held outside the White House shortly before an armed mob stormed the Capitol.

People may be laughing at Donald Trump now but he remains a threat to democracy in the free world's most powerful nation (Picture: Peter Byrne/PA)

"This isn't their Republican Party anymore. This is Donald Trump's Republican Party,” said Donald Trump junior of people who for want of a better term are sometimes described as “moderate” Republicans. What this means is Republicans who still actually believe in democracy and object to the idea of overturning a free and fair election to install a dictator.

Whether junior, who seems to have political ambitions of his own, is right is another matter, but it is clear that millions of Republican supporters would agree and a battle for the soul of the Grand Old Party will now commence.

In what is hopefully a sign that he thinks he will lose this internal struggle, Trump senior has reportedly discussed starting a new political party, which he has already named the Patriot Party, according to the Wall Street Journal.

That he is even considering such a move confirms what should already be apparent: Trump is not a Republican and simply used the party as a means to win power.

It is hard to see that a new Trump party would do anything other than split the vote on the right and hand the Democrats even greater power. But then, before 2016 it was hard to see Americans falling for Trump’s hate-filled rhetoric and yet he was elected.

All this may sound like a little local difficulty for an opposition party in a foreign land, but it remains hugely significant.

If Trump can rebound from this defeat – either by turning his son’s boast into reality or at the head of another party – then the world will once again face the prospect of its biggest military and economic power falling into an Orwellian nightmare in which the only truth is what he says it is. There is also the risk of someone cut from the same cloth, such as junior, taking over his mantle.

So, right now, some of the most important people in the world are Republicans because it is they, even in defeat, who must now act to save the free world. And, while it would risk being counter-productive, Democrats should look for ways to help those “moderates” restore their party to the values held by the likes of the later Senator John McCain, an honourable person who clashed repeatedly with Trump as honourable people should.

The impact of Biden’s election on the world is already apparent as leaders, like Boris Johnson, pragmatically pivot towards policies that the new administration in the White House would approve of.

But the new president faces a considerable task to expunge Trump’s conspiracy theories, lies, threats and overt racism from political discourse in the US and shift the “Overton window” – the range of views deemed acceptable – back to that of a true democracy.

If he accomplishes this feat, Biden will be a truly great President. If he fails, America and the free world will be in trouble.

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