Misusing a crisis
Well, that didn’t take long. In fact it took far less than 24 hours for President Trump to use the New York City terror attack to (1) find a way to blame Democrats, (2) rail against the immigration system, (3) disparage the entire criminal justice system and (4) suggest violating the Constitution by sending the suspect to Gitmo.
Yes, it was a busy morning for the president. He started his day with a hit on New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, whose hometown was still in shock from this latest assault on its soil.
“The terrorist came into our country through what is called the ‘Diversity Visa Lottery Program,’ a Chuck Schumer beauty. I want merit based,” the president tweeted early Wednesday.
Tuesday evening, even as next of kin were being called, Trump had tweeted, “I have just ordered Homeland Security to step up our already Extreme Vetting Program. Being politically correct is fine, but not for this.”
As is too often the case, any resemblance between what the president says and the actual facts is purely coincidental.
Would-be immigrants coming in through the diversity lottery usually go through months of vetting and an in-person interview. That was the case long before Trump took office.
Sayfullo Saipov entered the country in 2010 from Uzbekistan, likely one of the most secular Muslim nations on the planet — the legacy of its decades as a former Soviet republic. There is a growing body of evidence that Saipov was radicalized right here in the good old U.S. of A., not back in Uzbekistan, which worries as much about radical Islamic terrorism as we do here.
In fact, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said yesterday that Saipov became “radicalized domestically.” But like the Obama administration before him, Trump never lets a crisis go to waste.
He then went on to berate all of those who work in the criminal justice system, saying, “We need quick justice and we need strong justice — much quicker and much stronger than we have right now. Because what we have right now is a joke.”
That is a slander on all of those who have, at great personal risk, prosecuted terrorism cases — and never lost one. It is also a slander on a system of justice that is the envy of the free world.
Then asked if he would send Saipov to the military prison at Guantanamo Bay he replied, “Send him to Gitmo — I would certainly consider that, yes.”
Of course, since Saipov is a legal, permanent resident of the United States that would actually violate the Constitution. But, hey it makes for a good talking point.
Crisis usually brings out the best in political leaders. In this case, not so much.