Donald Trump: The American Caesar?

For Americans, the question is whether Donald Trump, if elected, will become what Julius Caesar was for ancient Rome

According to liberal Americans, the Supreme Court's decision in the case that put the limits of presidential immunity on the table opens the door for presidents to literally become the new Caesars. As at the end of the Roman Republic, the new leader finds he can wield power with very few constraints, as Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson asserted in expressing their disagreement with the ruling of the six conservative justices.

The two dissenting justices separately argued that this decision poses a fundamental threat to American democracy and the rule of law.

"The President of the United States is the most powerful person in the country and possibly in the world. When using his official powers in any manner, according to the majority’s reasoning, he will now be insulated from any criminal process. Orders the Navy SEAL Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Organizes a dissident military coup to stay in power? Immune. Accepts a bribe in exchange for a pardon? Immune. Immune, immune, immune. The President can violate the law, exploit the attributes of his office for personal benefit, use his official power for evil purposes. Because if he knew that he might someday face accountability for breaking the law, he might not be as bold and brave as we would like him to be. That is the message from the majority today."

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Jackson made an equally concerning comment: "Therefore, even a hypothetical president who admits to ordering the murders of his rivals or political critics, or one who indisputably instigates a failed coup, has a good chance of obtaining immunity under the majority's new model of presidential accountability."

Each argued that the conservatives, led by Chief Justice John Roberts, had elevated the presidency to something akin to royalty. According to Sotomayor, "the relationship between the president and the people he serves has changed irrevocably. In every use of official power, the president is now a king above the law."

The debate is not new. Many political scientists have pointed out the American propensity for 'Caesarism.' For British historians Oswald Spengler and Arnold Toynbee, when empires enter decline, there comes a moment when they seek strong regimes. For Americans, the question is whether Donald Trump, if elected, will become what Julius Caesar, the Caesar, was for ancient Rome: the man who ended the republic to make way for the empire.

Caesarism, as such systems are called, is defined as the regime of a "strong, charismatic man whose government is based on a cult of personality, whose rationale is the need to govern by force to establish a violent social order, and a regime that includes the prominence of the military in government."

BY: JOSÉ CARREÑO FIGUERAS
JOSE.CARRENO@ELHERALDODEMEXICO.COM
@CARRENOJOSE