Those founders also thought that a free press was pretty essential. But Trump has revoked the credentials of reporters from BuzzFeed, Politico, The Daily Beast, Univision, The Huffington Post, and The Washington Post because he disapproved of their coverage. To which Post editor Marty Baron responded: “Donald Trump’s decision to revoke The Washington Post’s press credentials is nothing less than a repudiation of the role of a free and independent press. When coverage doesn’t correspond to what the candidate wants it to be, then a news organization is banished.”
Trump also has promised to ease libel laws to make it easier for public figures — meaning him — to sue the media.
Religion, the press — that’s one half of the First Amendment right there. No telling why Trump hasn’t yet prohibited freedom of speech or freedom of assembly, but … oh wait, on Thursday he said Republicans should back him or “shut the hell up.” Well, there’s still freedom of assembly — but the campaign is young.
Trump doesn’t understand
And yet, Trump’s aversion to the United States goes beyond the Constitution.
As USA Today reported recently: “He has been involved in more than 3,500 lawsuits over the past three decades — and a large number of those involve ordinary Americans … who say Trump or his companies have refused to pay them.” The article continued: “Trump’s companies have also been cited for 24 violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act since 2005 for failing to pay overtime or minimum wage, according to U.S. Department of Labor data.”
There’s nothing more American than average people putting in an honest day’s work for an honest day’s wage. Why does Trump despise them so?
Now, all of this has been well-documented; we’re not breaking new ground here. But much of it was known before the primaries started, and still Trump managed to garner enough votes to presumably earn the Republican nomination. He managed to convince enough acolytes that we should be so fearful of Muslims and immigrants that we abandon the principles that have turned this nation into the world’s most powerful.
That is perplexing. It’s nearly as perplexing as pondering why Trump’s campaign didn’t crash and burn the moment he said of John McCain, who spent 5 1/2 years as a prisoner of war: “He’s not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured.”
Personally, I like people who love the United States instead of some bastardized vision of what it stands for. Make America Great Again? Hah, Donald Trump doesn’t even understand America.