Trump’s New Mandate Claim Is a Comical Assault on U.S. History

And now, a message from the once and future president of the United States.

To all Senate Republicans: NO DEAL WITH DEMOCRATS TO FAST TRACK NOMINATIONS AT THE END OF THIS CONGRESS. I won the biggest mandate in 129 years. I will make my appointments of Very Qualified People in January when I am sworn in.

Before we get to the meat of the story, let’s deal with the comical assault on history contained in this little bit of sociable truth. He is claiming to have received the “biggest mandate in 129 years,” which would bring us back to 1895. Hell, he didn’t even win a bigger mandate than President Biden did in 2020, at least as far as the popular vote goes. But his formulation also would include Reagan in 1984, Nixon in 1972, LBJ in 1964, Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956, all four of FDR’s elections, Hoover in 1928, Coolidge in 1924, Harding in 1920, Wilson in 1912, Taft in 1908, TR in 1904, and both times McKinley beat Bryan.

This is one those things that I’m sure was whispered into his ear by one of his nearest and dearest sycophants. It’s such an odd number—129 years—that I’m sure there’s some mad historical logic behind it, pseudo or otherwise. He believed it enough to put it out because why the hell not at this point. And because he’s legitimately pissed that Chuck Schumer seems to be running a little McConnell on his ass concerning the federal judiciary before the clock runs out on the Democratic majority in the Senate. And his mellow was further harshed by the fact that Republicans cut a deal with Schumer back in November to drop procedural roadblocks in exchange for four Democratic nominees whose chances for confirmation seemed dodgy. That likely accounts for the lack of erratic punctuation in the sociable truth quoted above.