If the biblical adage that “a house divided against itself cannot stand” is true, what about a president divided against his own country?
Over his 3 ½ years in office, President Trump has set himself against so many of his fellow Americans. His divisive actions speak louder than any word or tweet, but his silence on horrific actions any normal president would rebuke speaks loudest of all.
When a white supremacist gunman murdered two protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin, he refused to condemn the gunman.
While his opponent in the presidential election, Joe Biden, condemned violence across the board, Trump refuses to do the same.
And when protests get out of hand, Trump blames only the Democrats who run cities — and seeks to defund their cities as a result.
The government is designed to be “of the people, by the people, for the people.” It is not an instrument of punishment for the president to use against those who oppose him.
An irate Governor Andrew Cuomo got into some trouble Wednesday when he said that Trump would “need an army” the next time he visits New York.
It was a ridiculous thing to say, and predictably, pundits and Trump supporters pounced on it as offensive — never mind the massive mountain of offensive, violent things that Trump has said or tweeted about people he doesn’t like since the day he declared his presidential candidacy in 2015.
This false equivalency notwithstanding, the president of the United States is supposed to keep the country together in times of trial, and sworn to “faithfully execute” the office while “preserving, protecting and defending the Constitution.”
Trump’s failed. Completely.
Look at where we are today: More than 180,000 dead and 6 million sickened by a viral pandemic Trump could not control. More than 30 million Americans out of work, businesses failing left and right, cities and states nearly broke, due to the economic crisis that ensued — and Trump and his party balk at providing more economic relief.
Decades of racial inequality and injustice have come to a head. Has the president acknowledged this injustice peacefully? No, he aggressively denies and opposes it, and fuels the flame of hate even further.
And now the latest disgrace: a report from The Atlantic alleging that Trump disparaged dead American soldiers as “losers” and “suckers.” These Americans gave their lives for the freedoms we enjoy today. How can someone who says such things call themselves a patriot? How can anyone who condones such deplorable remarks call themselves patriotic?
Trump denies this report the same way he denies every other report about his abhorrent behavior. But he’s lied to the public again, and again, and again — so much so that there’s no benefit of the doubt left to provide.
To think all this happens on the watch of a man who claims that only he can “make America great again.” That’s the biggest lie of all.
Trump has terribly divided this country, at the worst possible time — and all of his tweets and all of his acumen cannot make America united again.
