Earlier in the year, many pundits thought that Democrats would air ads featuring former President Donald Trump’s mugshot. They surmised that President Joe Biden, at the time, would talk about Trump’s felonies, or that he was held liable as a sexual abuser. Democrats would seize on the fact that Trump was charged with trying to overturn an election. That he was indicted countless times in multiple jurisdictions. And that he was impeached — twice.

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The Democrats had so much on Trump. He was the walking definition of a criminal. There were going to be ads of Trump in the courtroom while Biden gave speeches on Democracy — the juxtaposition would be astounding. Then Vice President Kamala Harris came along, then Trump picked JD Vance, then he was shot, then he ran his mouth, dissing women, Black people, trans people — anyone who was different than him. Given all that’s happened in the last few months, it’s like his criminal record is from another era, and that should be normalized.

There was no mention of Trump’s checkered past in any noteworthy ads or conversations leading up to the election, and that might be the most shocking aspect of this campaign. It was as if his criminality was a non-issue — or issues. Trump has slipped through so much in his life, and he slipped through the majority of this election without being called a criminal.

American history is not going to look kindly on this era of the Republican party. Our founding fathers would be horrified. Trump was the antithesis of what they had in mind for a president of the United States.