[Grammar] Had done nothing

[Flogger]

Hello.

Does "had done nothing" in the following text mean "have done nothing" ?

I think it's like to say "he told me that Marry was going to marry Jim" which is almost an equal way to say "he told me that Marry is going to marry Jim".

If so, would you please tell me what we should say that the mentioned politicians had done nothing in the past to damage their countries?

Jim Cramer, a former hedge fund manager turned TV personality, claimed the political phenomenon backed by the likes of Nigel Farage and Marine Le Pen had done nothing to damage their countries despite warnings from opposition rivals.

 

[emsr2d2]

It means they had done nothing to damage their countries at the time when Jim Cramer made the claim. It's possible they have done something to damage their countries since then.

 

[Flogger]

It means they had done nothing to damage their countries at the time when Jim Cramer made the claim. It's possible they have done something to damage their countries since then.

Is it grammatical to substitute "Has done nothing" for "Had done nothing" in the original sentence?

If so, does it mean the same?

 

[GoesStation]

Here's a stripped-down version of the quote: Jim Cramer claimed the phenomenon had done nothing to damage their countries. You can't substitute "have" for had​ because the subject is singular.

 

[Flogger]

Here's a stripped-down version of the quote: Jim Cramer claimed the phenomenon had done nothing to damage their countries. You can't substitute "have" for had​ because the subject is singular.

I meant "has", Pardon, it was a typo.

 

[GoesStation]

We usually back-shift in indirect speech, so we say Cramer claimed it had done nothing or Cramer claims it has done nothing.

 

[Flogger]

We usually back-shift in indirect speech, so we say Cramer claimed it had done nothing or Cramer claims it has done nothing.

What do you say when you want to say that the speaker said nothing was done in the past?

I think it's almost impossible to understand the meaning of these kinds of sentences without any contexts!