How Will We Deal with Citizen Trump?
An incumbent presidential candidate has the right to stoke hatred and divide the people of the United States if he deems it’s his best path to win an election. We even permit candidates lie to the public. And an acting president is protected by the “president cannot be arrested for anything” guideline even though that was certainly not the founders’ intention. Remember, they were throwing off the yoke of a dictator king.
However, anything action, speech or plan that our FBI would deem to be grounds for arrest if done by a domestic or foreign terrorist should be handled the same way if done by an ex-president. No man is above the law must rule.
Donald Trump said he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose any support. He’s done 300,000 times worse than shooting a person of Fifth Avenue. And I guess he was right. He didn’t lose that much support. Forty days after the election, 75% of his voters still think he won.
But after January 20th, will we still allow Citizen Trump to break the law? If he continues to stoke hatred and radicalize American citizens, putting us all in danger, should not those actions be prosecuted just as if they were done by Bin Laden? Remember, Bin Laden did not fly a plane into the World Trade Center; he masterminded it.
Trump’s radicalized base members planned to kill Michigan Governor, Gretchen Whitmer. It was a direct consequence of Trump’s words. We arrest and jail people when they pose an ongoing danger. If Trump continues to divide Americans after January 21st, why would we treat him differently than anyone else who put our citizens in danger?
I went to school with Donald Trump and knew him from Atlantic City for 14 years. Early in his presidency, I rooted for him to evolve. But it was not in his nature. Now, I wish Trump would wise up and get out of politics. He’s got plenty to do with hoteling and branding. He should count his blessings and turn over a new leaf. But as of today, it looks like he is intent on trying to hold on to his base. He’s found a way to monetizing grievance politics. Trump’s not going to give that up. Money is too important to him. Shame.
It’s easy to estimate the size of Trump’s support base. Trump’s base is the 75% of Republican voters who still believe him when he says he won the election. He won about 48% of the popular vote, so 36% of the voting public is still behind Donald Trump. It’s not enough to win a mandate, but it’s still a daunting majority of Republican voters. That’s going to be a problem for the GOP in 2021.
If the GOP is to survive, a different person must emerge as its leader. Who in the GOP is poised to take those those 36% of voters away from Donald Trump? The sycophants that could not stand up to Trump for four years will rightly remain cowards in the eyes of all Americans. Americans have often voted for inept presidents, but they have never once knowingly voted for a coward.
Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham, Mike Pence, Marco Rubio can all forget being then new GOP leader. Mitt Romney has lost once too often. Liz Cheney currently has the best chance to redefine and unify the GOP, but that would only be after Trump announces he is retiring from politics, the way all our ex-presidents have done. So if Trump does not get out of the way, he’ll be a threat to the survival of the Republican Party as well as to our national security.
If Donald Trump does not announce he is retiring from politics by January 20th, it’s critical that the Biden AG immediately start prosecuting him for as much as we legally can. We only allow one person to act as president at a time in America. We can and should arrest him at the first post-presidential divisive tweet or rally and charge him with the same crimes we charge terrorists who attempt to radicalize Americans. Liz Cheney should be fine with that too.
We put people behind bars because they are a danger to the public. If Donald Trump does not retire from politics on January 20th, tell me who will not be better off with Citizen Trump behind bars – except Donald Trump?
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