Liberals seized on remarks President Donald J. Trump made at a campaign rally in Nevada over the weekend, accusing the elected leader of imperiling our democratic norms.
"We're gonna win four more years in the White House, and then we'll negotiate, because based on the way we were treated, we're probably entitled to another four years after that," Trump told a crowd of enthusiastic supporters.
Aggrieved liberals lashed out online, alleging fascism, but as usual they didn't bother to assess the legitimacy of Trump's argument. If fairness is important, and many on both sides would agree that it is, Trump's suggestion deserves to be taken literally and seriously.
Whether or not he is reelected in November, the president clearly deserves more time in office, given the way he was treated by Democrats and their allies in the fake news media. That goes without saying. The only question at this point is how much extra time would be fair.
The so-called "sport" of soccer may be antithetical to American values, but it could prove instructive in this case. At the end of each half, soccer referees announce "extra time" to compensate for stoppages of play during the match, most of which are caused by grown men flailing around on the ground pretending to be injured—sort of like what Rep. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.) does in Congress on a daily basis.
This same dynamic should inform our calculation as to how much extra time in office Trump should get as a result of Democrats treating him badly and wasting his time. A Washington Free Beacon analysis gathered the relevant data and used basic science to calculate a reasonable, nonpartisan estimate of what Trump is owed.
- Time after winning the 2016 election when Trump wasn't even allowed to serve as president: 2.5 months
- Time wasted on failed Robert Mueller investigation: 22 months
- Time wasted on failed impeachment inquiry: 1.5 months
- Time wasted on the Democratic primary: three years
- Amount of time Trump could have been working if he wasn't forced to meet with lawyers and cooperate with various investigations: two months
- Amount of time Trump could have been working if he wasn't forced to watch TV to find out what Democrats were saying about him: five months
- Time since the Biden/China virus struck the United States and derailed the successful MAGA agenda: eight months
- Amount of time Hillary Clinton would have served in jail if Trump hadn't been so gracious and declined to prosecute her myriad crimes: 12-16 years
MINIMUM EXTRA TIME: 15 years, 5 months, 69 days
The following can serve as a starting point from which negotiations can proceed. As sensible as it would be to postpone the November election until we can figure out what's going on, it's unlikely to happen. It would be unfair to Joe Biden, whose mental competency is in rapid decline.
But if Biden does win in November, fairly or otherwise, he wouldn't be able to take office before the end of Trump's compensatory term or "extra time." He should have run in 2016 when he had the chance.