Outgoing Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., is predictably pissed at the President’s recent antics, pushing the country toward a partial government shutdown that just ten days ago Trump proudly said that he would own. But Corker’s latest remarks about Trump’s endless caprice and obsession with his favorite pundits missed the mark.
“We have two talk-radio show hosts who basically influenced the president, and we’re in a shutdown mode. It’s just — that’s tyranny, isn’t it?” Corker said earlier today. “Do we succumb to tyranny of talk-radio show hosts?”
For one thing, building the border wall wasn’t an idea that came from Ann Coulter. Both the border wall and having Mexico pay for it were Trump’s key campaign promises, and however haphazard this last-ditch attempt is to secure funding for it may be, that in and of itself is not “succumbing” to any outside force.
Furthermore, Trump’s tendency to flip opinions on a dime based on what his favorite television hosts rather than listening to, say, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, is bad leadership. But it’s pretty much the opposite of tyranny.
Outside private citizens in the media influencing the president’s opinion is just free speech at work. Commentators specifically aim to sway the opinions of both the public and politicians. The government listening to the press and the people combats tyranny, not enhances it.
If Trump actually does flex his executive power in a way that defies the law and his electoral and popular mandate, Corker’s more than welcome to lambaste him. But for a member of government to excoriate the influence of the free press on their politicians as “tyranny” is both unproductive and dishonest.
