Beschloss: Our Founders Writing the Constitution Would Say ‘Our System Did Not Work’ if They Saw Trump Today

Mitchell: “We’ve been noting that this is the first time in American history that the former president is on trial. And Donald Trump is also challenging that very premise with his upcoming Supreme Court case, arguing that he should have immunity, that it is unconstitutional for him to be on trial at all. But this is not only a test of the American legal system, it’s also a test of constitutional democracy. Joining me now is Michael Beschloss, NBC News, presidential historian, and Jon Meacham historian and the Rogers distinguished Professor at Vanderbilt University. So glad to talk to both of you. And of course, Jon is also the author of the book, ‘And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle. So, Michael, first to you what do you see as at stake in terms of history, in the way this trial is conducted in the way it — the way it turns out?”
BESCHLOSS: “Well, let’s have a very brief, and I promise brief visit, to our Founders in 1787 writing the Constitution. I think they felt that they had created a political system that would choose people as presidents who were not too likely to have been — to be accused of criminal conduct. I think that’s safe. So if they came back in — in 2024, the first thing they would say, I think is, you know, our system did not work. What happened? But you know, you were talking a little bit earlier, Andrea, and also the others were as well, you know, have we seen anything like this in history? And actually, we have. In 1972, Richard Nixon as president, June of 1972, on that famous tape, probably obstructed justice, and did so to keep damaging information out of the minds, the knowledge of the public, so that he could be sure to win election as president in 1972. That has a parallel here. Nixon, when he quit 1974 because of this, thought he was going to jail. And I think we should say that if Gerald Ford had not pardoned him, Nixon probably would have been put on criminal trial and most legal experts think that he would have been convicted and sent to jail. So the point is that this has happened before, but what — what — what should we say if people just say, there’s something wrong with our system, this is a setup for Donald Trump. You know, the problem is not with him, it’s with the system. That’s something that people did not say about Nixon in 1974.”