Trump gave worst inaugural speech in history — but America will overcome him: Conservative

Conservative columnist George Will tore into President Donald Trump's second inaugural address for The Washington Post — but also had some words of advice for those who saw the end of America as they know it in his words.

"Donald Trump does not deal in felicities. His second inaugural will be remembered for being worse than 59 others, including his first (about 'stealing,' 'ravages' and 'carnage'). It was memorable for its staggering inappropriateness," wrote Will. "Inaugurations should be solemn yet celebratory components of America’s civic liturgy. Instead, we heard on Monday that because of 'corrupt' and 'horrible' 'betrayals' by others, 'the pillars of our society' are 'in complete disrepair.' The challenges will be 'annihilated,' not because God blesses America, but because God chose him."

This kind of spectacle, he wrote, "replicated what have become the tawdriest events on our governmental calendar: State of the Union addresses. Wherein presidents leaven self-praise with wondrous promises, as their partisans repeatedly leap onto their hind legs to bray approval. There was much such leaping in the Capitol Rotunda on Monday."

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However, Will continued, America will ultimately move past Trump's baser instincts — in part because they are not nearly so unique as either his supporters or detractors presume them to be.

Will quoted Stephen Kotkin of the Hoover Institution, who had this to say on Trump: “This is somebody the American people voted for who reflects something deep and abiding about American culture. Think of all the worlds that he has inhabited and that lifted him up. Pro wrestling. Reality TV. Casinos and gambling, which are no longer just in Las Vegas or Atlantic City, but everywhere, embedded in daily life. Celebrity culture. Social media. All of that looks to me like America. And yes, so does fraud, and brazen lying, and the P.T. Barnum, carnival barker stuff. But there is an audience, and not a small one, for where Trump came from and who he is.”

At the end of the day, Will concluded, however much Americans abhor each others' politics and attitudes about it, "Most people [realize] that the universe under its current administration produces many disappointments. Then they shrug and get on with their lives. Today, many emotionally dilapidated obsessives experience either despair or euphoria about the inaugurations of presidents, who come and go. Both groups should rethink what they expect from politics, and why they do."