Not Just the Worst President: Presidential Historian Declares Trump the ‘Lord of the Flies’
The Power of a Metaphor
It started with a simple yet striking image: a close-up of Donald Trump with a fly perched on his face, shared by historian Michael Beschloss on X (formerly Twitter). The caption read “Lord of the Flies,” a phrase heavy with the symbolism of decay, chaos, and moral collapse. Beschloss wasn’t merely labeling Trump as the worst president in U.S. history; he was invoking a far more disturbing image—a leader whose presence brings about moral and societal breakdown, akin to the world depicted in William Golding’s haunting novel.
A Presidency Defined by Disaster
Trump’s presidency, widely regarded by experts as a disaster of historic proportions, was marked by a relentless barrage of lies, the catastrophic mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a chilling indifference to human suffering. This was most evident in his administration’s response to Hurricane Maria, which devastated Puerto Rico. Thousands of people died while Trump’s administration downplayed the disaster—a move reportedly motivated by his disdain for the U.S. territory and its people, whom he allegedly did not even consider part of America. This callousness was not merely incompetence; it revealed a deep-seated malevolence that has left an indelible stain on his legacy.
The Assault on American Democracy
In his final year in office, Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election were nothing short of an assault on the very foundations of American democracy. Desperate to cling to power, he tried to cripple the U.S. Postal Service to prevent mail-in ballots from being counted, even as the country was in the throes of a deadly pandemic. Trump’s decision to downplay the airborne nature of COVID-19 wasn’t motivated by a desire to prevent public panic—it was driven by his need to safeguard the stock market, which he viewed as crucial to his re-election prospects. The economy he touted as his success was largely riding on the momentum of President Obama’s achievements. However, as the virus ravaged major cities, temporary morgues sprang up across the nation—a grim testament to the administration’s catastrophic failure to protect its citizens.
The Insurrection and Its Aftermath
After losing the election, Trump refused to concede and did everything in his power to block the lawful transfer of power. This refusal culminated in the violent insurrection on January 6th, 2021, a day that will be remembered as one of the darkest in American history. The riot left 140 police officers injured and claimed five lives. Rioters came terrifyingly close to murdering Vice President Mike Pence, his family, and other lawmakers. Throughout the chaos, Trump reportedly watched with approval, cheering on the mob that stormed the Capitol in his name.
The Legacy of the ‘Lord of the Flies’
Beschloss’s metaphor of Trump as the “Lord of the Flies” captures the essence of his destructive influence. Trump’s presidency wasn’t just a period of poor leadership—it brought with it a contagion of chaos and division, a swarm of misery that feasted on the carcass of what was once the Republican Party. Like the hapless boys in Golding’s novel, the party was led into a moral wilderness, deceived by the very man they once rallied behind.
