President Trump just can’t help himself.
On Monday during a rally in Ohio, Trump recalled how he felt during his State of the Union speech and said that Democrats who sat and remained silent during his address were “un-American” and “treasonous.”
“You’re up there, and you have half the room going totally crazy wild. They loved everything; they want to do something great for our country,” Trump said. “And you have the other side, even on positive news, really positive news like that, they were like death. And un-American, un-American.”
He continued. “Somebody said ‘treasonous.’ I mean, yeah, I guess why not. Can we call that treason? Why not. They certainly didn’t seem to love our country very much.”
Democrats and the media started to condemn the president, calling his moves “authoritarian.” Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., who is a wounded combat veteran, said she wouldn’t cater to Trump’s whims, who she calls “Cadet Bone Spurs.”
We don’t live in a dictatorship or a monarchy. I swore an oath—in the military and in the Senate—to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, not to mindlessly cater to the whims of Cadet Bone Spurs and clap when he demands I clap https://t.co/99gW1yalDl
— Tammy Duckworth (@SenDuckworth) February 6, 2018
On Tuesday, White House spokesperson Hogan Gidley pushed back against that notion, saying it was all a joke.
WH spokesperson Hogan Gidley tells NBC News President Trump was being “tongue in cheek” yesterday when he accused Democrats of “treason” for not applauding during parts of his State of the Union address.
— Geoff Bennett (@GeoffRBennett) February 6, 2018
Humor or not, this is not something the president of the U.S. should be joking about. It’s this type of rhetoric that’s reminiscent of every dictatorship and tyrannical government that Americans have fought against. Political dissent does not equal betraying one’s country and attempting to overthrow the government.
This is just another example of Trump’s love/hate relationship with the Constitution. Like Ross and Rachel from the sitcom “Friends,” Trump and the Constitution often go on a “break.”
When the president called the media the “enemy of the American people,” Trump appeared to want to do away with the First Amendment with respect to establishing laws that would abolish a free press. When then-candidate Trump proposed creating a religious test to enter the U.S. via banning Muslims, he wanted to abolish the First Amendment again with respect to religious liberty.
While President Trump doesn’t play by anyone’s rules and says what he wants without consequence, he has to come to the realization sooner rather than later that words matter. And it’s only a matter of time before his rhetoric really puts Americans in a precarious position.
Siraj Hashmi is a commentary video editor and writer for the Washington Examiner.
