The glass house

The Trump White House is the ultimate glass house when it comes to judging outrageous tweets, racial sensitivities — or what constitutes a firing offense for damaging an American institution.

After all, this is the president who has spewed a succession of insults with his predawn tweets, spent years spreading the a racist myth about President Barack Obama’s birthplace, began his campaign by slandering Mexican immigrants, spread lies about Muslims in New Jersey celebrating 9/11, and drew praise from white supremacists for his hesitancy in condemning the racist rally that turned violent in Charlottesville, Va.

We would not take this and other evidence of Donald Trump callousness toward a pluralistic society to conclude he is a white supremacist. No doubt other factors are at work, such as narcissism, ignorance or opportunism in exploiting the passions of supporters who do harbor such prejudices. But let’s just say this about ESPN host Jemele Hill’s condemnation of Trump as a “white supremacist”: We understand how she might get that impression.

Far more disturbing than Hill’s tweet — for which she apologized to her employer — was White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ suggestion that it should be “a fireable offense.”

A White House being investigated for obstruction of justice over the president’s firing of an FBI director looking into his campaign’s possible collusion with a foreign adversary should not be lecturing anyone about what should be a firing offense. It’s also just plain chilling in a democracy for people in power to think they can dictate the firing of a journalistic critic.