Trump and his Republicans Against America

In the past two weeks Donald Trump sought to disrupt, perhaps destroy, our NATO and European alliances and then joined with Vladimir Putin to boast, fawn and lie in “one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory.” Yet after two weeks of boorish, even obscene behavior to our friends and abject abasement before a hostile tyrant, here is what did not happen– Trump did not walk anything back or meaningfully disavow any of his actions. No Republican took any action that would limit Trump’s self-serving, anti-American behavior in the future. Indeed, on Friday - without consulting his advisors or Congressional Republicans - Trump announced that he has issued orders to invite Putin to visit him at the White House this fall.

This was and is the plan Trump has for the future: America hand in hand with Russia in opposition to the Western democracies. While there was some initial surprise and push back from a few Senators, the Republican establishment and Fox News quickly fell in line with Trump. Words were spoken in Congress and on TV but no meaningful action was taken - even when Trump suggested that he was willing to turn Americans over for questioning by Russia. Instead, last week House Republicans cut funding for election security from one of the budget bills they passed.

Nothing in Trump’s behavior – no matter how outrageous - should be described as surprising or unexpected. Trump campaigned on the promise of friendship with Putin. His uninformed, hostile stance towards Europe and NATO was openly trumpeted during the election. The overt white nationalism and homophobia of Putin’s Russia is embraced by much of the Republican base. The Republican establishment ignored these earlier inconvenient remarks and rallied for a President who would cut taxes for the rich and appoint conservative justices to the federal courts. 

Nor do we need the Muller investigation to know that Russia actively assisted Trump’s election because Putin admitted it! Trump called on Russia to hack Hillary Clinton’s emails during a nationally televised debate. Last week we discovered that Russia began to attack Clinton’s servers the very next day. As the past two weeks show, Trump is determined to reward Putin for his aid and comfort. The TrumPutin Surrender Summit and press conference have a single unifying theme: Trump is America and America exists to serve him. 

This week we also learned that Trump’s Supreme Court nominee openly questions whether any legal action can be taken against a sitting President. As far back as 1999, Brett Kavanaugh coyly let it be known that he thought the unanimous 1974 decision in United States v. Nixon was wrongly decided. Thus, Trump has nominated a Supreme Court Justice who openly suggested he would have protected Richard Nixon from attempts to hold him accountable for breaking the law. It is only a small step from that supposedly theoretical position to the expectation that if appointed, Kavanaugh will protect Trump from any and all court actions for any law he breaks. 

It is time to tell your Republican elected representatives, along with your Republican friends, that Trump is acting against America. Whether it is treason or not is a pointless argument; President Trump does not represent American interests and values.

Call To Action

Call your Senators and/or Representatives:

1. Tell them – especially the Republicans - that you support NATO and our largest trading partners including the European Union. Tell your representatives to support legislation that prevents Trump from withdrawing from NATO unilaterally. 
2. Congress must strengthen the sanctions against Russia that were passed last year and demand that the Administration enforce them against Putin and other Russian oligarchs .
3. Congress should limit Trump’s powers to impose punitive tariffs and to disrupt security agreements.
4. Tell your Senators that Brett Kavanaugh has plainly signaled to Donald Trump that he will try to block any investigation into the President’s actions during the President’s term in office. Judge Kavanaugh MUST answer questions on his history as one of the chief prosecutors of Bill Clinton and his convenient change of heart about the validity of investigating a President. In our view, Kavanaugh’s nomination must be rejected for this reason alone.