Can politicians do no wrong?
The answer to that question is obviously no, but does our society accurately reflect this idea?
We Americans are more fed up with our political system than ever before. According to Pew Research, about 8 in 10 Americans say Republicans and Democrats can’t even agree on basic facts. This kind of division isn’t just driven by the news media — it reflects a deeper problem in how we see and treat each other politically.
However, while the average citizen is pushed further into a feeling of division, that vitriol is not reflected in the treatment of political figures. If anything, we have deviated from allocating any responsibility to the public servants whose job is to represent us.
Just this past week, President Donald Trump posted an AI-generated image of himself as a messianic-like figure “healing” a man in a hospital bed. Critics were quick to point out this image — intentional or not — portrays the president as a religious idol wanting to be worshiped.
The real issue isn’t just the image itself, but the reaction to it. People responded largely along partisan lines, either defending it outright or condemning it completely. Moments like that show how quickly we abandon critical thinking in favor of loyalty.
When we elevate politicians to an untouchable status, we lose the ability to have honest conversations about what we expect out of our leaders and the steps that need to be taken to enforce accountability at the highest levels of government.
Criticizing voters alone misses the bigger issue — politicians themselves often go unchecked, as political parties and loyal supporters excuse or deflect nearly any action taken by their leaders.
This dynamic goes beyond political discourse and has begun to leak into the very outcomes of policy decisions. When leaders know their supporters will defend them regardless of their actions, the incentive to act responsibly weakens.
We’ve seen this play out repeatedly in recent years. Supporters of Trump have often dismissed controversies in which he took center stage, including his role in 2021’s January 6 Capitol attack and the pardoning of those who invaded the Capitol building.
Similarly, supporters of former President Joe Biden have brushed aside issues ranging from the handling of the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan to concerns about his age and mental status, often framing criticism as partisan attacks rather than engaging with it directly.
The consequences of actions such as these being excused are very real and should be alarming to all U.S. citizens. If we give anyone — regardless of political party — unchecked power and immunity from criticism, what is stopping them from taking full advantage of it?
Voting has evolved beyond selecting a set of policies that best reflect your needs and has instead become an identity. Who you vote for reflects your values, beliefs, finances and your belonging within your social groups. So when we call for accountability on our side of the political spectrum, it feels like a personal attack on the voters themselves.
This dynamic appears across the political spectrum. For example, when conservative commentator Riley Gaines publicly criticized the AI-generated image shared by Trump, her comments were met with backlash from some members of her own political side. In a CBS News interview, Trump himself responded dismissively, saying he was “not a big fan of Riley, actually” when asked about her criticism.
Even within political coalitions, there is often pressure to stay aligned rather than speak candidly.
Criticism should not feel like betrayal, and in a healthy democracy, disagreement should be expected rather than punished. Citizens should feel free to question leaders — even those they support — without being treated as disloyal for doing so.
So what can be done to combat this negative attitude toward criticism within our country? We first need to recognize that our leaders are public servants that possess the authority they do because of us. We have the power to elect them into office and take said privilege away when they are no longer serving that mission.
We also have to become better stewards of difficult conversations about accountability without the fear of backlash. We cannot fix a problem that cannot even be discussed to begin with. Having nuanced conversations is more important than ever with the advent of social media that prioritizes outrage and clicks over truth.
As Americans, we have much more in common with each other than we realize. We all want life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; it just so happens that we disagree about how to approach these ideals. We are far stronger together than we are divided, and to begin this healing, we need to recognize that holding politicians to a higher standard is not that big of an ask.
Democracy begins and ends with us. It relies on us citizens to think critically, not worship blindly.
Wyatt Pickering is a business honors and finance junior and opinion columnist for The Battalion.
