Left-wing outlet Politico ran a piece written by its founding editor and global editor-in-chief, John Harris, where he admitted, “Trump is a great president.”
Harris wrote that people cannot deny the “basic fact” that President Donald Trump is the “greatest American figure of his era.”
“Let’s quickly exhale: Great in this context is not about a subjective debate over whether he is a singularly righteous leader or a singularly menacing one. It is now simply an objective description about the dimensions of his record,” he explained. “He began a decade ago by dominating the Republican Party. He soon advanced to dominating every discussion of American politics broadly. Now, his astonishing comeback after his defeat by Joseph Biden in 2020 and the notoriety of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot makes clear there are certain things he is not and one big thing he is.”
He went on to describe Trump as a “force of history,” noting that he is “someone with an ability to perceive opportunities that most politicians do not and forge powerful, sustained connections with large swaths of people in ways that no contemporary can match.”
Harris added that Trump has displayed “uncommon psychological toughness.”
“Imagine running for president amid huge civil suits, criminal prosecutions, and even felony convictions — then emerging from this morass as a larger figure than before,” he wrote. “No one needs to admire the achievement to recognize that Trump is possessed by some rare traits of denial, combativeness and resilience.”
Despite admitting that Trump is “great,” Harris claimed that Trump is “ready to use his second term, and second chance, to divide the nation” over various policies, including immigration, foreign policy, and school curriculum.
The acknowledgment of Trump’s influence on modern-day politics comes as several companies have begun to shift their tone to fall in line with what has been called the “Trump effect.”
After Trump won the 2024 Presidential Election, the owner of the Los Angeles Times announced that he was looking to implement politically conservative voices on its editorial board. Pat Soon-Shiong told Fox News anchor Trace Gallagher that he wants “voices from all sides to be heard,” Mediaite reported at the time. “So, I’m looking for people like Scott Jennings. Scott Jennings who is on CNN and he’s one out of six usually in the — in the room where we need to have all voices, the right, the left, and the moderate, the center,” he added.
Similarly, Jeff Bezos, owner of The Washington Post, said he felt “very optimistic” about the Trump administration. “I’m actually very optimistic this time around,” he said. “He seems to have a lot of energy around reducing regulation. And my point of view, if I can help him do that, I’m going to help him because we do have too much regulation in this country. This country is so set up to grow.”
