The REAL Problem with Trump
It’s Time to Engage Independents and Republicans.
With his attack on the First Amendment and Jimmy Kimmel and the sham prosecution of former FBI Director James Comey, President Trump has crossed a line. If we want to keep constitutional democracy alive in the United States, independents and, yes, Republicans must be persuaded that the red line has clearly been crossed. They need to be directly asked if they believe in the founding principles and the Constitution. Reflexively, an overwhelming number will say, “Of course.”
If they don’t recognize that Trump is making what are clearly authoritarian moves, then they must be challenged. We must make all see that what Trump and his allies are doing is not only not normal, unprecedented, often bizarre, and the biggest change to the federal government since the New Deal. More important than all of that, the president’s latest actions are a deliberate, direct assault on the Constitution and the rule of law.
It would be one thing if President Trump was only a coward, a pathological liar, a cheat, a convicted felon, a narcissistic bully, and a bigot who constantly uses race and hatred to divide and incite. It is not only shameful he was reelected, but also morally outrageous that many look up to him as a leader and that he continues to model behavior that violates the norms of civility and decency taught in churches and schools and even what’s expected in corporate America.
If Trump was just a strong partisan, liberals, Democrats and loyal Americans would protest but live with it. He won the 2024 election and his party controls Congress. But Trump is something more: an elected authoritarian working diligently to overthrow the American system. Since 2017, we have known that this billionaire real-estate developer who became a reality TV star has no respect for the nation’s proud history and the office he holds.
President Trump’s most recent actions prove he is a lawless authoritarian: a bully who does as he wishes until individuals and institutions stand up to him. In destroying the American government, he is replicating the path of destruction, grift, and bankruptcy he pioneered in business. He is trampling on constitutional democracy because he wants to be America’s strongman. And we must say No.
In three actions – attacking the First Amendment, singling out political foes for prosecution by a now corrupt Department of Justice, and sending masked, heavily armed federal agents into the streets of Democratic cities such as Chicago – President Trump is rushing ahead with his authoritarian takeover.
As David Frum explains, Trump’s plan is to instill fear in minority populations, discourage Democratic turnout, and thus keep the House (which could investigate him) out of Democratic hands in 2026. Acting as dictators have always done, Trump and his administration are working tirelessly to cow his party into submission, silence his critics, and cripple institutions that have independent power.
The picture has been clear for a while for those who are paying attention. Outside the resistance, many Americans are busy with their own lives or think both parties are at fault for this vicious time, and consciously try to ignore what is happening in Washington. Others are habitual Republicans still believing the Democrats are the ones ruining the country.
Imagine a drain opening up in a pool filled with water. The water level begins to drop slowly, but then drains faster and faster. Today, the life blood of democracy – respectful civic conversations, the norm that political violence is never acceptable, and the knowledge that our fundamental rights are protected by the Constitution and the court – is rushing toward the drain. Our job is to plug that drain before it is too late. When the pool is empty, our freedom is gone and tyranny has fully arrived.
The FCC attack on ABC and Jimmy Kimmel and the bogus indictment of James Comey are actions that have broken through to the public-at-large. As I wrote in my post about Kimmel’s return, the First Amendment is America. In the United States, people speak their minds freely without fear. It is the very core of American freedom.
With the politically motivated indictment of James Comey, the bald facts are again clear. Respected federal prosecutors, including the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Erik Siebert, who Trump appointed, looked at the facts, the case, and said there was not sufficient evidence to indict. Siebert said the same was true for another of Trump’s political foes, Letitia James, the attorney general of New York. Siebert was forced to resign and the White House staff secretary, Lindsey Halligan, was appointed to replace Siebert to bring the indictment. Halligan has zero experience as a prosecutor. The Comey case is a bogus prosecution, a show trial. Under the Trump Administration, justice in the United States is now in serious danger.
We must challenge our neighbors, friends and business colleagues. Do they believe in free speech and the First Amendment? Do they believe in a free, independent and uncorrupted justice system? If they do, they need to tell Republicans in Congress to wake up. If so, they need to demand that Republicans in Congress stop bowing, “put on their big boy pants,” and tell President Trump that with his actions against Kimmel and Comey he has crossed a bridge to territory where Americans will not go. His new actions are unacceptable and blatantly un-American.
Independents and sane Republicans need to tell President Trump and congressional Republicans that there are limits to what the public will tolerate. As Robert Reich wrote in a fine post, “The slumbering giant of America is awakening.” Remind moderate fence sitters and those Republicans who say, “I don’t like how he behaves, but I like his policies,” that when freedom is fully drained from the pool, tyranny becomes our life. Force them to think ahead to when Trump has total power. What then?