These 15 'un-American' Trump proposals are attacking 'basic principles of the Constitution': analysis

14 November 2023

Although Donald Trump was never a staunch liberal or progressive, he was more of a Blue Dog Democrat during the 1980s and 1990s. Trump often endorsed Democratic candidates, was a frequent guest on Howard Stern's show, argued that the U.S. economy performed better under Democrats, and said that although he was personally opposed to abortion, he was still pro-choice.

But Trump started moving to the far-right during the Barack Obama years, promoting the racist "birther" conspiracy theory. And he became even more extreme with his 2016 presidential campaign.

Words like "outlandish" and "unhinged" have long been used to describe Trump's ideas. But in a listicle published on August 13, The Atlantic's David A. Graham stresses that ideas Trump has been pushing on the campaign trial go way beyond "outlandish" — they are attacking the U.S. Constitution itself.

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"In fact, much of what Trump is discussing is un-American, not merely in the sense of being antithetical to some imagined national set of mores, but in that his ideas contravene basic principles of the Constitution or other bedrock bases of American government," Graham warns. "They are the sorts of ideas that would have been shocking to hear from any mainstream politician just a decade ago. And yet, today, Trump —arguably the single most influential figure in the United States — says these things, and they hardly register."

Graham cites 15 examples of "dangerous and stunning" ideas Trump is pushing.

Trump, Graham notes, (1) "promised to destroy the federal government as we know it," (2) "argued that a presidential candidate should be immune from prosecution," (3) "insulted and attempted to intimidate judges, prosecutors, witnesses, and others," (4) "continued to claim that the election was stolen," (5) "excused the January 6 riot," and (6) "entertained pardoning himself."

Graham goes on to say that Trump: (7) "menaced American Jews for not voting for him," (8) "suggested executing Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley," (9) "accused NBC of treason and threatened to pull it off the air," (10) "Promised to lock up political opponents," and (11) "recommended extrajudicial executions."

Trump, Graham adds, also: (12) "called for a judge overseeing his case to be prosecuted," (13) "told voters not to bother voting," (14) "celebrated the antidemocratic strongman Viktor Orbán," and (15) "promised to indict Joe Biden."

Read David A. Graham's full article for The Atlantic at this link (subscription required).

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