The pivotal day America’s president turned on America
Throughout his short but tumultuous career in public life, Donald Trump has been the subject of an almost endless stream of political obituaries.
If it wasn’t his Guinness-worthy list of lies, it would be the latest lewd, crude, rude or bigoted outburst that would bury him.
Whether it was his call to jail Hillary Clinton, trashtalk about grabbing women, his defence of racist protesters or the many allegations of sexual improprieties levelled against him, Trump has repeatedly broken the limits of what’s considered acceptable behaviour.
And on an almost weekly basis since he ran to become — and then became — president, at least some of his critics have cried, “Enough. This time he must go.”
But while reports of his political death have always proved premature, while the Trumpian cat has always found another life, the president’s bizarre, craven and, most of all, anti-American outburst in Helsinki last week may finally be the tipping point.
What he said after meeting Russian dictator Vladimir Putin should be the moment of no return.
Because this time, Trump didn’t limit his insults to women, racial or ethnic minorities, Canadians or other close U.S. allies; he insulted the entire United States.
He sided with a foreign power and not just any foreign power but the one that has proven for most of the past seven decades to be America’s implacable foe.
Asked in Helsinki whether he agreed with the intelligence community in his own country that Russian agents had interfered in the election that put him in the White House, or whether he accepted Putin’s denial of this verdict, Trump backed Putin.
The next day Trump said he had unintentionally misspoken. He’d meant to back his people. And by implication it was all a harmless, forgivable error.
Wrong. Former CIA head John Brennan called Trump’s words “treasonous.” Richard Painter, a former White House ethics lawyer, said Trump should be impeached.
Now as long as Trump’s Republican Party controls Congress, Trump may be immune from such a fate. Republicans should reject him. But they likely won’t.
Even if the Democrats regain charge of Congress after this fall’s midterm elections, it may be impeachment is neither a legal possibility nor political practicality.
Yet even if this is all true, Trump’s blunder last week should be a game-changer.
The man who became president on the promise to “Make America Great Again” made America and the people entrusted with its safety look small. If not treasonous, it was breathtakingly un-American.
To make things worse for Trump, he looked weak, foolish and in the thrall of the hostile leader of a hostile country.
The bragging, blustering, bullying Trump may be forgiven or even adored by his diehard supporters.
But this Trump’s not a strongman. Indeed his behaviour fed speculation that the Russians have compromising information on him.
Perhaps the ongoing investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller will discover Trump is in Putin’s pocket. Even if it doesn’t, this was the week when the mountain of accumulated outrages collapsed in an avalanche on Trump’s regime.
If America has not totally lost its way, this president should be a pariah for all but his most ardent and blind fans.
He turned on America.
America should turn on him.
The reports of Trump’s political death may still be premature.
But his presidency appears to have just been diagnosed as terminally ill.