The Lesser of Two Evils Question

I see I need to be clearer on my reason for supporting President Trump during the current impeachment investigation.

The best way I can explain my position is to go back to the 2016 presidential race with Hillary Clinton running against Trump. I supported Hillary during that race for tactical reasons.


That is, I held the view that a Hillary presidency would create a large anti-Hillary crowd that would be a prime target for libertarians to reach out to. I was not supporting her because she was the lesser of two evils. Indeed, I suspect that as a ruler she would have been somewhat more evil than Trump but that strictly from a tactical position it made more sense to support Hillary.

At the current time, my support for Trump against impeachment follows along the same lines. Impeachment by the House and removal by the Senate of Trump would open up the very strong possibility of a sweep by Democrats in the 2020 elections, with them remaining in control of the House, gaining the Senate and the White House.

This is the dangerous thing. I am fearful of a power structure where there would be no roadblocks to complete Democratic rule.

I would hold this view even if Joe Biden was elected president. And this is my fundamental reason for supporting Trump against impeachment.

That said, Elizabeth Warren in the White House would be an absolute horror and I would argue against her both on tactical structural grounds of full Democratic control but in addition that Trump would be the lesser of two evils.

Now, in most cases, the lesser of two evils is not a strong argument because the candidates tend to hold positions that are not that much different from each other. However, there are times that the differences are significant enough that it makes sense to support the lesser of two evils.

Consider, for example, if Ronald Regan ran against Joseph Stalin.

To be sure, Reagan was a terrible president (See: Ronald Reagan: An Autopsy by Murray Rothbard) but if one had the choice between the lesser of two evils Reagan over Stalin, one would have to be a fool not to support Reagan over Stalin.

(Note: I say "support" and not vote. I have very complex reasons why almost always it makes no sense to vote and I plan on putting my thoughts down on this issue in an essay before the 2020 elections.)

Although the differences between Trump and Warren are not as dramatic as Reagan over Stalin, the differences are alarming enough that I would support Trump over Warren.

But, as I say, my support against impeachment is more based on structural reasons of how power may shift rather than the lesser of two evils argument but that argument also does come into play when we are talking specifically about Warren rather than say Biden.

-RW