Trump thinks he's above the law. Republicans will ignore it until it's too late. | Opinion
Republicans will likely dismiss Trump's comments as a joke. Nobody is laughing.
On Saturday, President Donald Trump tweeted: “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.”
This wasn't some one-off statement made by Trump to America; it was later emphasized by The White House X account, making clear that this is the official position of this administration.
Obviously, this is a rationale for many of Trump's legal actions thus far, and we'll likely hear more of it as he continues. Trump is dead wrong, and his statement is worryingly anti-American. As is the lack of action from Republican leaders.
Trump's words are authoritarian, they should worry Americans
All presidents think that their vision for the country is for the good of the people (at least they pretend to), but the political process is what determines what truly is in the people's interest. A president who defies the law in the interest of the good of the people still defies the law.
James Madison profusely warned of the tyranny of the majority in Federalist 51. The winners of any given election cycle are not entitled to reshape the U.S. government without restriction, even with complete control of the government, as the GOP has right now.
This is part of the reasoning behind not just our structure of government, through separation of powers and judicial review, but also behind legislative rules, such as the filibuster. The majority does not deserve to have their complete will imposed on the American people, full stop.
At the core of conservatism is restraint. Namely, the restraint of individuals from exerting their will over Americans. This is why our federal government is so convoluted, and why each branch has checks and balances over each other.
That all crumbles when one branch begins to act criminally and other branches fail to stop it. Congress must act when the executive branch appears to be brazenly violating the law. Meanwhile, Republican officials are not widely worried about Trump's words. The GOP, in its current neutered state, is unwilling to even attempt to play its role in a government of checks and balances.
I am disappointed by the lack of spine from Republicans in the legislature to denounce such an outright dictatorial-style statement.
Trump supporters will simply say that he is joking or that this is simply rhetoric. But Trump left no room for interpretation, plastering this message across the official White House accounts.
Trump's comments come just after judges continue to block Elon Musk from accessing Treasury data, block Trump's new interpretation of birthright citizenship, and block restrictions on access to transgender treatments for those under 19, among others. Trump is fed up with the courts restricting his actions, and this is the result.
Correct outcomes must come from the proper processes
It is not conservative to violate the law to reach certain outcomes, no matter how good those outcomes are. Even if the majority deems an action good, actions done without legal basis are almost certain to be undone over time.
For a long time, Republicans sided with the conservative standpoint on the matter, and understood that process mattered. Even deeply immoral injustices, such as Roe v. Wade, must be overturned through the proper channels. Had states outright ignored the Supreme Court’s ruling in that abortion case, no permanent progress would have been made in restoring the rights of unborn Americans.
Violating perceived unconstitutional laws at the margins isn’t a tyrannical act in itself. It's actually done all the time in order to bring questions before the judicial system. Even so, these instances should be infrequent, and only done when it comes to topics that are already under significant constitutional debate.
However, when a Supreme Court ruling comes down on an issue, that is the law of the land. Ignoring that decision outright, such as President Andrew Jackson did nearly 200 years ago, is treasonous behavior and should result in impeachment. Trump, an admirer of Jackson, now hints with his comments that he may be willing to stand before the Supreme Court he helped build and dare them to enforce a decision against him.
In our modern polarized political climate, there is little reason to believe that the next election cycle won’t swing back in favor of the Democrats. Unless the goal is dictatorship (which statements like these lend credence to), Trump and his acolytes are only setting up Democrats to ignore the law to meet their own ends.
A back-and-forth of this behavior means the death of our Republic, and Republicans should be as wary about this trend as Democrats are. Rhetoric and actions like Trump’s aren’t partisan: They are anti-American.
Dace Potas is an opinion columnist for Paste BN and a graduate of DePaul University with a degree in political science.