Back during Joe Biden’s presidency, I liked to ask conservative friends, “Can you say one positive thing about Joe Biden?”
Even if they had a notion of something positive in mind, the act of verbalizing it seemed just too much, given whatever other negative feelings they seemed to be experiencing.
I had plenty of my own critiques of Biden. But when he arrived for a surprise in-person visit to Ukraine in February of 2023, I raised my appreciation of the president’s courageous move to show solidarity with a frightened nation.
Now, President Donald Trump and his team have achieved something widely recognized as staggeringly positive. His 20-point peace plan, which began with a ceasefire and withdrawal of Israeli forces from much of Gaza on Friday, bore the fruit so long out of reach, as Hamas released the final 20 living hostages (and four of the 28 presumed dead ones) in exchange for 1,968 Palestinian prisoners freed by Israel.
Although additional stages of the plan will be difficult to achieve, are these early steps something you can bring yourself to give the president some credit for as well?
If so, you’ll be in good company.
“Even if someone with whom you disagree about 99 things does the 100 really well, you should say so, because that’s what intellectual honesty is,” said Jon Meacham, a presidential historian and former speechwriter for Biden, during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Thursday after news broke of the agreement.
“So all credit to President Trump and his, as you say, unconventional team,” this frequent critic of the president said — reiterating on the same MSNBC show on Monday: “Make no mistake about this: This is a victory for President Trump and for those who wish that we can govern ourselves at home, and around the world, not simply by brute force, but by ideas and civilized norms.”
On the same program, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius said on Thursday, “What’s interesting about that, Joe and Mika, is that it took ideas from all over the Arab world — from the UAE, from Qatar, from Saudi Arabia, from Tony Blair in Britain — and pulled them all together into a single plan with the U.S. weight of support behind it. That’s how we got here.”
“And in each case, it’s Trump deciding these people, endless combatants, cannot do it on their own (and saying) ‘I’m going to intervene forcefully,’” said the veteran columnist, who has himself been often deeply critical of the president. “Tragically, that is something that Joe Biden, for all his desire for peace, wasn’t able to do.”
Similarly, Atlantic columnist Graeme Wood called this “a moment for radical hope,” citing Palestinian philosopher Sari Nusseibeh, who once served as the Palestinian Authority’s representative in Jerusalem acknowledging this became possible thanks to “this strange guy in the White House” who came from nowhere, “like Superman.”
“Previous presidents hadn’t done much,” the journalist added. Former CNN commentator Chris Cillizza likewise went so far as to say, “If you can’t give Donald Trump credit for what he did on Hamas and Israel, you are a totally blind partisan.”
Of course, plenty of the 370,000 people who saw Cillizza’s message had potent objections to raise. Some said Trump was being given too much credit that should go to others, others insisted none of this outweighed actions he was taking in the U.S., while still others cautioned against being premature.
Yet when Air Force One arrived at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport Monday morning, Wood compared the emotional impact on the war-weary nation to a comet hitting the Holy Land: “The sight of the 747 meant: This is really happening.”
Even Hillary Clinton told CBS’ Norah O’Donnell on Friday, “I really commend President Trump and his administration, as well as Arab leaders in the region for making the commitment to the 20-point plan and seeing a path forward for what’s often called the day after.”
Former Vice PresidentKamala Harris likewise said, “I don’t think that we should (with)hold any credit where it’s due,” going on to commend the people who had been a part of the process: “I commend the Qataris, the Egyptians and the president.”
By contrast, former President Barack Obama’s social media post about the peace deal did not mention Trump, prompting even CNN host Abby Phillip to say on Saturday, “Honestly … if President Obama is going to write a whole post about a peace deal, maybe he should acknowledge the president who brokered it.”
I get it. This can be hard. But if we can’t bring ourselves to even give voice to a single positive thing about a political opponent, it might say more about us than it does about them. (In that case, you might try something simpler: positive things about neighbors or friends who disagree with your politics.)
Even then-candidate Donald Trump was able to respond affirmatively when asked in a town hall with Hillary Clinton, “name one positive thing that you respect in each other.” Clinton responded first, praising Trump’s children as “incredibly able and devoted,” adding that as a mother and grandmother, “I think that says a lot about Donald.”
Then Trump said of his rival: “She doesn’t quit, she doesn’t give up, I respect that … she’s a fighter. I disagree with much of what she’s fighting for; I do disagree with her judgment in many cases. But she does fight hard, and she doesn’t quit and she doesn’t give up. And I consider that a very good trait.”
If Trump can ... and Clinton can ... and Harris can … then maybe you can too.
