Uncanny Similarity Between Donald Trump and Deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi

They don't look alike. But are as unfit for presiding respectively over America or Egypt, they match.

Trump puts himself above the law, saying, in critical cases, it does not apply to the President. So did Muslim Brotherhood Morsi in Egypt. Trump sees no conflict of interest in mixing between the business of his 550 companies and being the President of the United States. So did Morsi when he declared, during his presidency, that he was above the law.

Perceiving Russia as in loco ally of the U.S., Trump has seen no problem in Russian slicing off of part of the Ukraine, "Wouldn't it be nice to get along," he intoned. In Egypt, Morsi, during the Brotherhood's reign of darkness (2012-2013), saw in Turkey and Pakistan foreign policy extensions of Cairo.

Morsi did not have the material riches of Donald Trump. Far from it. But in Khairat El-Shatter, the Brotherhood's money bags, there was an equivalency.

The Brotherhood's coffers were supplemented by unaccounted for financial dollops from overseas. The State's Central Accounting Office in Cairo was barred from even raising questions. These were regarded as "charitable contributions" from abroad, and the hand of the State could not reach them for counting or accounting.

How similar is that to Trump's non-divulgence of his taxes either before the elections or after his elevation to the post of president. "We are being audited by the Internal Revenue Service" -he posited. No proof on that. And if a proof is produced about that feigned audit, no conflict in divulging the amount and sources of his claimed riches for both transparency and payment of US taxes.

Trump came to the Oval Office, not through the majority of the popular vote on November 8, 2016. His non-merited ascendancy to the most influential executive post in the whole world came through a Constitutional gimmick called the Electoral College. An appendix in the American Constitutional structure which had been intended by the founding framers to keep mobocracy out of ruling America. Well, that safety valve has malfunctioned, as it backfired through the enraged mobs being counted for the purpose of satisfying the Electoral College.

In Morsi's case, the route to the presidency in Egypt was circuitous, but led in the same direction. First Morsi was not the first choice of the Muslim Brotherhood. (Nor was Trump for the Republican establishment in America. Sixteen others competed with him for the coveted prize). But once Morsi was chosen, his gaining over his opponent, General Shafik, left the legitimacy of the vote count in doubt. Even with one and a half percent edge in the popular vote over Shafik, the ballot boxes were not secure. And judicial monitoring was not geographically even.

Both Trump and Morsi have a distinct propensity for war. Trump has declared "I love war;" and Morsi beat the drums for warring against Ethiopia over the construction by Addis Ababa of the Renaissance Dam over the Blue Nile. "Egypt will go dry -a catastrophe," screamed Morsi. Yet all the while, Morsi looked the other way as Hamas denied the very existence of Israel with which Egypt has a peace treaty.

The two men share the same perception of brotherly movements abroad as means of legitimating their rule over their respective countries. Trump sees in the British Brexit and the rise of the right in Europe a vindication of the neo-isolation of America. The deposed Egyptian President saw in a mythical Caliphate over all Muslim lands the road to the resurgence of Islam, as interpreted by the Muslim Brotherhood.

It is interesting to note that neither Trump nor Morsi has an inclination to read. Trump has openly manifested that. But Morsi has proved it by circumstantial evidence. Morsi claims a Ph.D. in engineering from California. The question is this: Has he written that dissertation? Or was it written for him on commission. For if he had written it, then where is the proper English language which surely develops and expands in its vocabulary through the arduous self-authorship of a Ph.D. dissertation?

In a small pamphlet titled "Accomplishments by President Dr. Mohamed Morsi," nearly 500 projects are listed. From dredging a canal in Upper Egypt to the repair of the railroad between Cairo and Alexandria. All by Morsi!! So are Trump's claims to great accomplishments within 50 days. Pre-election plans for industrial expansion by large US companies are immediately claimed by that narcissistic president to be a part of Trump's achievements.

Anxiety reigns over America since the assumption by Trump of the U.S. presidency. In certain instances that anxiety translates into outright fear, experienced by immigrants worried over deportation for the flimsiest infraction. Included in those widening circles of fear are Muslims, due to the Muslim ban, compounded by raising red flags over the misnomer "Islamic terrorism." As if terrorism has a faith!!

So was the case in Egypt, during the Islamist reign of obscurantism of the Muslim Brotherhood. The targets were the Copts, the liberals, the other secularists, women. Tourism dried up, compounding the economic woes of Egypt of 100 million. Attackers of churches, Shiis, unveiled women, and the very message of Al-Azhar went unpunished. It was the reign of impunity gone mad!!

Neither Trump nor Morsi saw in the judiciary a co-equal branch of the Government. In Egypt, the Supreme Constitutional Court was besieged for weeks by Brotherhood hooligans. The Brotherhood controlled both the executive, and its own Brotherhood majority parliament. As for Trump, judgments by the judiciary were attributed to the ethnic background of one federal judge, or to incompetence as in the case of freezing the Trumpian executive order affecting the freedom of movement in and out of the U.S. Trump called the orders issued by the U.S. judiciary, whether in Washington State or in Hawaii, "judicial over-reach!!"

One more thought remains: The Egyptian Revolution of June 30, 2013 has resulted in the removal of Morsi, thus saving Egypt from the possibility of civil war. In America, the nation is deeply divided; the three branches of government, including the judiciary through the possible confirming of a very conservative ninth justice for the Supreme Court; the growing anxiety over Russia's influence and possible blackmail over Trump, are all the kinds of drip drip drip which may end up in shortening the tenure of Trump's presidency.

Similar features of governance by Trump and Morsi are manifest in two critical areas: They both have failed in keeping religion and State separate. And they both seemed to treat the armed forces of their respective countries as if they were their personal institutions. Witness the oft-repeated Trump's reference to: "My Generals."

Am I forcing similarities between Trump and Morsi into my own perception of dislike for both? Possibly. Of course, Trump may yet declare the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization -a measure worthy of the just war on terrorism. But whatever happens, with such actions, I cannot avert my gaze over two presidents who have acted similarly in a variety of issues.

In life, similarity of circumstances, especially in governance, generally leads to similar outcomes. The parallel of the Trump and Morsi trajectories is difficult to ignore. Both of them have rested their thrones on the perilous grounds of "I won!!"

Both Trump and Morsi live on the same oxygen. Their oxygen is called the mob. They both draw their fancied approval from the howling masses. For Morsi it was Rabaa and El-Nahdha. For Trump it is Nashville, Tennessee and Michigan.

The Trumpists, especially Steve Bannon, Trump's highest adviser, are calling for "the destruction of the administrative State." This anti-State call evokes the horrible memory of a Muslim Brotherhood earlier call. "Toz Fi Misr" (to Hell with Egypt) which was uttered by a Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide.

There could be nothing either "supreme" or "guidance" in belittling Egypt of 7000 years of existence. 


NOTE: New blog postings will resume on a monthly basis until my new book is ready for the press this Fall. Its title: "War On Jihadism Ideologically: The New Islamic Religious Revolution"