Victor Davis Hanson: Trump’s Not An Autocrat. He’s Following the Precedents Set By Obama, Biden

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News, Daily News, Politics, Government

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🗓️ 8 July 2025

⏱️ 8 minutes

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Summary

I have one piece of advice for President Donald Trump. Whether it's dealing with the fallout from executive orders, mass deportations, or bombing foreign countries without explicit congressional approval, President Trump just simply needs to remind his critics that nothing he’s doing is “ahistorical or unprecedented,” advises Victor Davis Hanson on today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words:” “So, they're saying he is deporting, deporting, deporting people. Well, Barack Obama deported more people in his tenure than any other prior president—2.5 million. And he focused on criminal aliens. He said so. Just like Donald Trump did. And as far as cages and detention centers, Obama created them. So Trump just said, ‘I'm just following the precedent of Obama.’" 👉 This episode is sponsored by Case in Point Podcast. Listen now: https://www.heritage.org/caseinpoint 👉Don’t miss out on Victor’s latest videos by subscribing to The Daily Signal today. You’ll be notified every time a new piece of content drops: https://www.youtube.com/dailysignal?sub_confirmation=1 👉If you can’t get enough of Victor Davis Hanson from The Daily Signal, subscribe to his official YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@victordavishanson7273 👉He’s also the host of “The Victor Davis Hanson Show,” available wherever you prefer to watch or listen. Links to the show and exclusive content are available on his website: https://victorhanson.com The Daily Signal cannot continue to tell stories, like this one, without the support of our viewers: https://secured.dailysignal.com/ 00:00 Introduction and Context 00:08 Trump's Use of Presidential Powers 01:20 Legal and Political Attacks on Trump 02:37 Comparing Trump and Obama on Deportations 03:02 Subpoenas and Executive Power 04:00 Military Actions and Precedents 04:59 Executive Orders and Final Thoughts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I had the absolute pleasure of speaking to Pamela Anderson.
0:04.2	All thanks to the Dove Self-Eesteem Project.
0:07.1	We speak about the impact Y2K has had on women's body confidence and how Pamela has regained control.
0:12.9	The Dove Self-Esteen project is an amazing initiative supported by science-backed methodology
0:17.8	to help us improve our relationship with our bodies.
0:20.8	To find more
0:21.4	body confidence-building exercises, go to dove.com forward slash Y2K. That's Y2K, spelled W-H-Y2K.
0:30.1	I usually don't give advice to Donald Trump, who knows much more about politics, obviously,
0:34.4	than most of us. But I think he could use maybe a suggestion on messaging.
0:38.5	He's getting attacked by the left for autocratic use of presidential powers. He's dictatorial.
0:45.0	Donald Trump, I think, could remind people that he's just following the precedence that he
0:49.9	inherited. Barack Obama issued about 260 executive orders.
0:54.7	He said, I have a phone and I have a pen and I'm going to bypass Congress.
0:58.6	Barack Obama deported more people than any other prior president.
1:02.0	In 2016, Barack Obama bombed seven different countries.
1:07.2	26,000 bombs he released.
1:10.5	Again, without congressional authorization.
1:11.6	All he has to say is he's doing nothing, nothing,
1:14.6	a historical or unprecedented.
1:16.6	The right is still right, even if you stand by yourself.
1:31.5	Mr. Chief Justice, may it place the court.
1:35.1	This is Hans von Spikovsky, host of the Case in Point podcast, which looks at the hottest cases affecting politics, culture, and everyone's daily lives.
	...

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