Former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson hopes President Donald Trump’s presidency will be a cautionary tale for voters going forward.
During an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, Johnson expressed his belief that “history will not view the Trump presidency and those who supported it kindly.”
He said that he is holding out hope that the Senate will vote to convict Trump on the charge of “incitement of insurrection.”
However, he said that if the Senate does not vote to convict Trump and ban him from holding office, it will be up to the American people to decide — based on what he sees as the failure of the Trump presidency — to reject a potential future presidential bid.
“Four years ago, we engaged in a very dangerous experiment by electing someone who was utterly unqualified for office, who had no moral or legal compass and frankly had impulses toward fascism and autocracy,” he said.
He continued, “My hope is that as time passes Americans will realize this was a failed experiment and we should never try it again. Just look at the consequences of that over the last four years.”
Finally, he said, “There’s a track record now in which Donald Trump and his presidency should be judged, so in our democracy, if Congress doesn’t step up to this, the American public must do so.”
Watch the video below:
"My hope is that as time passes, Americans will realize this was a failed experiment, and we should never try it again."
— Fareed Zakaria (@FareedZakaria) January 17, 2021
Fmr Homeland Security Sec. Jeh Johnson on impeachment, Trump's political future, & our fact-free environment—pt. 2 of our conversation today: pic.twitter.com/hwKAdwlyPd
Johnson was also asked about polls that have found that a majority of Republicans believe President-elect Joe Biden was not the legitimate winner of the presidential election and how he thinks there can be renewed confidence and legitimacy in the democratic process.
“I believe that there needs to be greater standards toward what is put out as so-called news, what is put out by the internet by social media. This is largely a mission for social media itself,” Johson said.
He clarified that he does not believe that the government “should be in the business of policing political content and speech.”
While he said he believes social media companies have “learned a lot” from the Trump years, he added, “Social media itself… needs to do a better job of policing what is put out to Americans, what Americans are inclined to believe.”
His comments come after a mob of Trump supporters — who used social media companies to organize — stormed the U.S. Capitol, leaving five dead and bringing a halt to proceedings meant to certify the presidential election results.
After the riot, social media companies such as Twitter banned thousands of accounts linked to conspiracy theories over concerns that those users could use their platforms to incite violence.
Twitter also permanently banned Trump “due to the risk of further incitement of violence.” Meanwhile, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg banned the president indefinitely over “his decision to use his platform to condone rather than condemn the actions of his supporters at the Capitol building.”
