After the Fall: Being American in the World We've Made

by Ben Rhodes

More fundamentally, when it came to Trump and his election, the focus on Obama obscured—to me—the radicalization of the Republican Party that has been under way since the end of the Cold War and that accelerated under Obama, a party that could find common cause with the likes of Viktor Orban and Vladimir Putin by the end of our administration. Obama had not governed as a radical; indeed, the things I wish he might have done differently are mainly policies that would have been further to the left and further antagonizing to the right. This, to me, cast a harsh light on a fundamental truth, one that is as uncomfortable as it is obvious. At one book event, I was politely grilled by an audience of Germans about Obama’s responsibility for Trump. The red line and the West Virginia voter both made appearances. I reiterated that Obama came to office preaching national unity and bipartisanship. He extended olive branches far beyond the point when he had any reason to expect them to be accepted. His policies were more moderate than the progressive wing of the party wanted. He enjoyed broad support from a majority of Americans and would have beaten Trump if he could have run again. Finally, as one man kept insisting that Obama should have done more to stop the Republican Party’s drift in the direction of Trump, I snapped. My voice rising just a sliver, I said that the thing that was most triggering to many Americans, that helped fuel the Republican Party’s radicalization into Trumpia...