Trump has degraded values of democracy
with. In his White House, if you’re avoiding the appearance of impropriety, you’re not pushing the boundaries hard enough.”
A president’s most fundamental legal and moral responsibility is to uphold and protect our system of government. Trump has degraded that system.
When Trump threatened to “loosen” federal libel laws so he could sue news organizations that were critical of him, and later threatened to revoke the licenses of networks critical of him, he wasn’t just bullying the media. He was threatening the freedom and integrity of the press.
When, as president, he equated neoNazis and Ku Klux Klan members with counter-demonstrators in Charlottesville, Va., by blaming “both sides” for the violence, he wasn’t being neutral. He was condoning white supremacists, thereby undermining the Constitution’s guarantee of equal rights.
When he pardoned Joe Arpaio, the former sheriff of Maricopa County, Ariz., for a criminal contempt conviction, he wasn’t just signaling that it’s OK for the police to engage in violations of civil rights. He was also subverting the rule of law by impairing the judiciary’s power to force officials to abide by court decisions.
When he criticized NFL players for kneeling during the national anthem, he wasn’t just asking that they demonstrate their patriotism. He was disrespecting their — and, indirectly, everyone’s — freedom of speech.
When he berated the intelligence agencies and the FBI, he wasn’t just questioning their competence. He was suggesting they were engaged in a giant conspiracy to remove him from office — potentially inviting his most ardent supporters to engage in a new civil war.
America has had its share of good and bad presidents, but Donald Trump falls far below anything this nation has ever before experienced. In less than a year, he has degraded the core institutions and values of our democracy.
We have never before had a president whose character was so contrary to the ideals of the republic. That Sen. Hatch and other Republicans don’t seem to recognize this is itself frightening.