“My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier,”
President Trump – January 20, 2025
Trump has long billed himself as being a “unifier” and on election night declared his victory was a “massive mandate.”
In 2024 of the approximately 242 million eligible voters only 155.3 million (a dismal 63.9%) actually voted. In the second closest election in sixty years, Trump’s 77.3 million votes, cast by people primarily concerned with inflation and immigration, represented less than 50% of the total votes and only 32.9% of eligible voters. Those statistics don’t suggest of overwhelming mandate for him or his often-autocratic agendas which, not surprisingly, closely mirror the Heritage Foundation’s dystopian Project 2025 view of America and policy recommendations which frequently threaten America’s historic democratic values and institutions.
One wonders how Trump can unite Americans with diverse political, cultural and even religious beliefs by demonizing immigrants, members of the LGBTQ+ community, pro-choice advocates, DEI, several former Democratic presidents and apparently anyone who has publicly disagreed with him.
Acting Attorney General James McHenry justified demoting or firing many Justice Department lawyers stating, “In light of their actions, [he] does not trust these officials to assist in faithfully implementing the President’s agenda. This action is consistent with the mission of ending the weaponization of government.”
Mirroring most of Trump’s Cabinet and other nominations, rather than experience and a fealty to the Constitution and rule of law, McHenry asserted loyalty to the president is the primary criteria for future government service. As for “weaponization” of the Justice Department, a self-delusional myth Trump created to mask his past words and actions, there no evidence any such governmental conspiracy ever occurred.
Meanwhile, nearly all Congressional Republican have also exhibited a willingness to ignore their oaths of office to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same;” or any obligation to listen to or represent all of their constituents. Could documented presidential threats to “primary” them when up for reelection if they don’t conform to his agenda by playing a role?
When asked about world leaders he respects, Trump’s choices have a common thread, all are autocrats who have undermined their nation’s democratic institution, subverted the roles of their Legislatures and Judiciaries, reigned in a free press, and amended their constitutions to provide them lifetime tenure.
These are repugnant policies for which our nation’s Founders fought a revolution and hoped to permanently avoid when drafting the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution … and for which so many Americans have since served, were wounded or even died to protect us from.
