June 28, 2024
The earliest election cycle I can remember was Bush VS Clinton in 1992. I wasn’t watching politics yet when Lloyd Bentsen said to Dan Quayle, “You’re no Jack Kennedy.” I certainly wasn’t around when Thomas Jefferson called his opponent John Adams “a blind, bald, crippled, toothless man who is a hideous hermaphroditic character with neither the force and fitness of a man nor the gentleness and sensibility of a woman.”[1] My experience hearing presidential insults is limited.
Still, as I was watching the Biden-Trump debate last night, I heard the most fascinating insult, and I want to invite you to pause with me and think about its implications.
I’m talking about when both Trump and Biden called each other the worst president in U.S. history. First, from Trump:
“[He is] without question, the worst president, the worst presidency in the history of our country. We shouldn’t be having a debate about it. There’s nothing to debate.”
“It was the worst—probably the worst administration in history.”
“They [our veterans and soldiers] think he’s the worst commander in chief, if that’s what you call him, that we’ve ever had.”[2]
Next, from Biden:
“About worst presidents, I wasn’t joking. Look it up or go online: 159 or 158—don’t hold me to the exact number—presidential historians. They’ve had meetings, and they voted who’s the worst president in American history. One through best to worst, they said he was the worst in all of American history. That’s a fact. That’s not conjecture.”[3]
“I’m talking about when both Trump and Biden called each other the worst president in U.S. history.”
Now, you may very well agree with one or the other about their ranking. Of the 45-and-counting U.S. presidents, somebody’s got to come in as the worst president in history, right?
But I’m not writing in order to explore what makes somebody a worse or better President. I’m not writing in order to speculate whether Trump or Biden or any other President sits at the bottom of the list. Instead, can I simply take a moment and pause the debate video on this two-way insult—and explain why it’s so fascinating to me?
For you, it might not seem interesting at all. It’s politics, after all, and each candidate is trying to find the biggest possible slab of mud to heave at the other. But think about it: what does it communicate about you when you’re scraping together as many electors as you can—all so you can beat the person you call the worst president in history? It’s not much of a boast to win 51-49% to the person you believe is the most incompetent, heartless, disastrous president in history. Again, I understand why candidates make such claims. But where else do you find someone admittedly doing their absolute best so they can beat the absolute worst?
“Where else do you find someone admittedly doing their absolute best so they can beat the absolute worst?”
Although debates are something of a spectator sport, this isn’t the type of insult we typically see in sports. Consider how Los Angeles Lakers legend Kareem-Abdul Jabbar reflected on playing against his longtime rival Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics:
“The best guy I played against might have been Larry Bird. . . . He wore us out. You know? . . . It was this muscle here—the one between his ears. . . . because he made the three-pointers and he had assists . . . rebounds . . . steals. He was always at the right place at the right time on the court. . . . One of the greatest players I had the opportunity to play against.”[4]
Imagine how counterproductive it would be if, in trying to inflate his own glorious athletic career, Jabbar declared his greatest rival, Bird, to be the worst player in NBA history. That’s not how it works in sports.
You know where it does work? Politics.
It’s nice living in a country where we can vote out underperforming and/or corrupt leaders. The other side of that coin is regularly having to vote for something like the better of two accordion players—that is, the one who can most skillfully inflate their successes and deflate their failings. With an 81-year-old and a 78-year-old running against each other in this election, that’s a lot of past years that need inflating and deflating of the facts. It also means not a lot of future years to deliver on bloated promises. In short, politics can often mean a lot of lies.
“Although debates are something of a spectator sport, this isn’t the type of insult we typically see in sports.”
This isn’t to say that politics is hopeless or irredeemable. Government plays an important role in God’s world (see chapter 1 in Following Jesus in a Politically Divided World by John Whittaker and myself). But even God was far from optimistic when his people asked for a human king—even a king God would handpick himself. Here’s what God told Samuel to tell them as a warning:
“This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.” (1 Samuel 8:11-18, NIV)
“When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen.”
I’m not at all saying that politicians are the worst among us. I’ve known some trustworthy politicians who do honest work for the common good. But there is something about political pursuit that can bring out the worst in us. If politicians themselves are to be believed, aspiring to be the most powerful person on the planet can be enough to rank only an inch or two above the country’s worst leaders—and that’s if you win.
Watching grown men call each other “whiner,” “complainer,” “loser,” and “sucker” last night for 90 minutes reminded me how hollow it makes us when we try to puff ourselves up. My dad used to tell my brothers and me something a Bible college professor used to tell him: “Why would somebody stoop to be the President when they could be a preacher of the gospel?” Preaching the gospel is that important. That’s not to say every Christian ought to go into full-time ministry or that Christians should avoid politics. We need disciples of Jesus in every strata of society, including politics.
But it is a reminder not to be surprised when we see people who aim for the highest strata in society stooping to get there.
“There is something about political pursuit that can bring out the worst in us.”
By contrast, in an ironic twist, God chooses the unpowerful among us to be the richest inheritors of all:
“Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?” (James 2:5, NIV)
[1] Benjamin R. Dierker, “No, Today’s America Would Not Surprise the Founders in the Least,” The Federalist, April 19, 2019, https://thefederalist.com/2019/04/19/no-todays-america-not-surprise-founders-least/.
[2] “READ: Biden-Trump Debate Partial Rush Transcript,” CNN, https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/27/politics/read-biden-trump-debate-rush-transcript/index.html.
[3] “WATCH: Biden Says That Trump Is the Worst President in American History,” PBS NewsHour, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ysa-MGQJ9UA.
[4] “Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Says Larry Bird Was the Best He Played Against,” YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFvbj9-1yY8.
How do we follow Jesus in a volatile political climate? Check out Following Jesus in a Politically Divided World by John Whittaker and Daniel McCoy.
