Victor Davis Hanson has a simple observation in his latest piece at American Greatness: the same Democrats who spent years shredding institutional norms now act shocked when those norms no longer shield them. The outrage is selective. The precedents were set on their watch. When the other side finally plays by the new rules, the original innovators suddenly rediscover the virtues of restraint, independence, and fair play.
Consider the attorney general. Democratic senators unanimously opposed Todd Blanche on the grounds that a former Trump lawyer was too close to the president. Yet John F. Kennedy installed his own brother as attorney general. Eric Holder openly described himself as Obama's "wingman." The closeness that was once celebrated as loyalty is now treated as disqualifying, only when the wrong party holds the White House.
Lawfare follows the same pattern. Democrats express alarm that Republican state prosecutors might pursue Anthony Fauci under state law despite federal pardons. But the template was written by Fani Willis in Georgia, Letitia James in New York, and Alvin Bragg in Manhattan. Those prosecutors stretched novel theories and timed charges for maximum political effect when federal efforts stalled. Once that door was kicked open, it does not close conveniently for the side that opened it.
The IRS provides another illustration. Accusations that Trump has politicised the agency ignore Lois Lerner's targeting of conservative and Tea Party groups during the Obama years. An IRS contractor leaked Trump's tax returns to The New York Times in an election year. Selective enforcement and selective leaks were tools before they became scandals.
Election denialism is especially rich. Democrats spent years treating Trump's questions about 2020 as uniquely dangerous. Yet Al Gore's camp prolonged the 2000 recount fight and popularised the "selected, not elected" line even after audits showed Bush still prevailed. Hillary Clinton and elements of the Obama administration promoted the Steele dossier. Stacey Abrams spent more than a year insisting she was the rightful governor of Georgia after losing by tens of thousands of votes, to sustained Democratic applause. House Democrats tried to reject Ohio's electors in 2005. Challenging results and alleging systemic flaws is not a Trump invention.
The FBI record is longer still. James Comey's Crossfire Hurricane investigation, the FISA abuses, Comey's selective leaks, Andrew McCabe's false statements, Kevin Clinesmith's doctored email, and the Mar-a-Lago raid all occurred under Democratic pressure or during Democratic administrations. Christopher Wray's bureau seized documents from Trump, while Joe Biden's own long-held classified materials received far gentler treatment. When Kash Patel is criticised for proximity to Trump, the prior record of institutional weaponisation is airbrushed away.
Congressional subpoenas and domestic surveillance complete the list. Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro went to jail for resisting Democratic subpoenas. Anthony Fauci's appearance before a Republican-led committee is treated as an outrage. Obama's Justice Department obtained phone records of Associated Press reporters and targeted Fox News' James Rosen. Jack Smith's team obtained communications of members of Congress. The tools were refined when useful; their use by the other side is suddenly "dangerous."
Norms are not self-enforcing. They depend on reciprocal restraint. Once one side decides that the ends justify novel prosecutions, selective IRS pressure, dossier-driven investigations, and the erosion of independent institutions, the other side eventually notices. The party that spent a decade treating every lever of power as a legitimate weapon cannot credibly demand that those levers be put away the moment it loses control of them.
This is not a claim that Republicans are pure or that every Trump move has been ideal. It is a recognition of sequence and consequence. The Democrats normalised the behaviour. They celebrated it when it advanced their interests. They now face the predictable result: the same tactics turned against their own figures and priorities. Complaining about the music after writing the score is not principle. It is projection. The norms did not vanish by accident. They were dismantled, piece by piece, by the people currently most vocal about their absence.
https://amgreatness.com/2026/08/13/whos-been-destroying-norms/