Question: Does it matter if the president of the U.S. cheated on their spouse before they ever served in public office?
This past week, President Trump’s sexual history has come under focus after the Wall Street Journal reported that the president’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, arranged a $130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels (whose real name is Stephanie Clifford) in exchange for her silence about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump in 2006 and even signed a nondisclosure agreement in October 2016. On Tuesday, CNN’s Oliver Darcy reported that Fox News spiked a story in October 2016 about this particular affair, and couldn’t publish because it “lacked independent corroboration.”
Daniels has denied that any affair took place with Trump in 2006. However, InTouch Weekly posted a story suggesting that the alleged affair actually happened and that it has the exclusive, unedited interview with Stormy Daniels herself from 2011, which the publication plans to publish later this week.
An excerpt from the interview indicates that the affair took place four months after Donald’s wife, Melania, gave birth to their son, Barron. There’s nothing to suggest in the interview that the encounter was non-consensual.
In light of these latest revelations, it’s hardly surprising that a man who once was caught on tape bragging that he could grab women because of his level of fame is being accused of having an extramarital affair. What a person does in their private life should be of no concern to the public, let alone the government, as long as one is not doing anything illegal.
However, cheating on a spouse, especially one who is nursing your newborn child, is a particularly egregious offense when it comes to judging one’s character.
Now that Trump is president, his morality, integrity, and character should constantly be subject to scrutiny. Generally, morals inform one’s judgement. If Trump’s judgement is tainted or compromised, then that can directly impact the public.
Anyone who skirts the law to a degree feels some level of entitlement. If the president feels that some laws don’t apply to him, shouldn’t that matter when trying to govern? After all, if your morality is corrupt, you become more desensitized to even more corruption. It’s why so many people were infuriated at former President Bill Clinton’s extramarital affair with Monica Lewinsky (in addition to his multiple accusations of sexual assault, harassment, and rape by numerous women) during his time in office. If a man who vowed to never engage in infidelity is accused of just that, what else could he have been corrupted by, and who could have corrupted him?
We’ve learned that time and again, in the immortal words of Lord Acton: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.”
Yes, Trump is just a human, an imperfect one like all of us. But until the president has shown or at least attempted to show that he is a man who atones for his sins and misdeeds, it’s difficult to say that he has the best interests of the country in mind and is wielding his power in good faith.
Siraj Hashmi is a commentary video editor and writer for the Washington Examiner.
