Our view: President Trump channels King George III
The Declaration of Independence is known mostly for its opening sentences, in which author Thomas Jefferson draws on enlightenment thinkers to proclaim a universal right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
But the bulk of the document is actually a scathing, 27-count list of the wrongs that British King George III had committed against the people of the American colonies.
Many of these grievances begin with the words “he has,” as in: “He has obstructed the administration of justice.” Many of the complaints are directed at a king who rules by fiat and makes little distinction between himself and his government.
Today, the American people look at the Declaration of Independence as a sacred founding document and remember King George as somewhere between villain and joke. But President Trump, with his increasingly outlandish ideas about the sweep of his presidential powers, keeps channeling the
18th century royal.
On Monday, Trump proclaimed by tweet that he had the absolute power to pardon himself, and that special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 election is unconstitutional.
This came as Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani declared that a president could commit murder (the hypothetical victim being former FBI director James Comey) and not face indictment until after he leaves office.
These assertions come on top of others that show a man who would be monarch rather than a man who was elected president.
We don’t have space for 27 scathing critiques of Trump’s actions, but here are a handful:
❚ He has declared that his executive powers are so sweeping, he cannot be charged with obstruction of justice.
❚ He has proclaimed himself immune from subpoenas.
❚ He has repeatedly demeaned and debased the Justice Department and the FBI.
❚ He has fired a senior law enforcement officer after that officer (Comey) quite appropriately refused to pledge his loyalty to the president and to go easy on a former top White House aide.
❚ He has granted pardons in an arbitrary and capricious manner.
In some cases, Trump is simply arguing one extreme in an ambiguous area of the law. Can he pardon himself ? Who knows? It is not an issue the courts have ever been asked to address. In fact, it is not a power any previous president has had the nerve to assert. Perhaps the closest comparison was Richard Nixon, who famously told interviewer David Frost that “when the president does it, that means it is not illegal.”
It’s a safe bet that had Democratic President Obama said or done any of these things, Republicans in Congress would be clamoring for his head.
Instead, they remain remarkably reticent as President Trump acts more and more like King Donald I.