From President Donald Trump's denunciation of the European Union as a "foe,” to contradicting explanations about a press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin, it may seem like up is down and down is up.
It’s what some are calling “Trump derangement syndrome.” But retired Army Colonel Andrew Bacevich argues that critics of the president are overreacting.
“His incompetence is a problem, but the loudest anti-Trumpers think that he’s a fascist, believe that he poses an immediate threat to our democracy, will jeopardize our rights. And I think those claims are absurd,” Bacevich told Greater Boston.
Expanding on a piece he wrote for The Boston Globe titled "Curb the paranoia, anti-Trumpers," Bacevich told host Jim Braude that institutions such as the press should find balance in the daily deluge of presidential actions.
"My argument is not that we shouldn't hold the president accountable. It’s simply it seems to me these institutions ought to take little bit of a deep breath and try to regain some amount of equilibrium and pay more attention to some things that may actually be far more important to our well-being than whatever the president said yesterday or the day before,” he said.
Bacevich, a professor emeritus of history and international relations at Boston University, said one of those critical issues is the U.S. relationship with China.
“I'm much more concerned about our evolving relationship with China than our relationship with Russia. China is a great power, Russia once was a great power. It's not insignificant, but it by no means should be compared to the old Soviet Union," Bacevich said.
As for critics of Trump’s policies and presidency, Bacevich offered a prediction: "My hypothesis — we'll have to wait 50 years to see if this pans out — is [Trump] is actually going to turn out to be one of the least significant presidents in our history, because all the terrible decisions he is making, most of them are reversible. And if the electorate wises up enough to elect a competent person to be his successor, then we can repair most of the damage," he said.
