'Utter silence': DC insider rips America's 'leadership class' for being 'cowed' by Trump
During his first presidency, Donald Trump not only clashed with Democrats, but also, with many non-MAGA conservatives he appointed to his administration — including Rex Tillerson (secretary of state), Jeff Sessions (U.S. attorney general) and John Bolton (national security adviser). But Trump's second administration is much different from his first, and this time, he is surrounded by MAGA loyalists. Moreover, Trump is getting less pushback from Republicans in Congress as well as from universities, media organizations, and major corporations.
In his September 22 column for The Guardian, liberal economist Robert Reich laments too many people in leadership roles are afraid to stand up to Trump.
"As Trump and his goons strip Americans of our constitutional rights," Reich observes, "the silence of the nation's leadership class is deafening. I'm old enough to remember when, during the Vietnam war, university presidents utilized their bully pulpits to remind America of its moral center. Today, university presidents are cowed…. It's not just university presidents. Whatever happened to America's religious leaders?... What happened to America's business leaders? They've never been especially reluctant to speak out on public issues."
Reich continues, "For years, Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, has acted as a self-appointed spokesperson for American business, sometimes reminding CEOs of their social responsibilities. This time? Utter silence."
Many law firms, according to Reich, are terrified of Trump as well.
A senior partner in a large law firm, quoted anonymously, told Reich, "I want to keep my head down. We have too much to lose."
Media leaders, Reich adds, are "busy consolidating their ownership over ever more of the nation's media and dare not upset Trump's FCC and its Trump toady Brendan Carr."
"During a crisis like the one we're now in," Reich warns, "these so-called leaders have abdicated their moral responsibility…. The disappearance of America's leadership class at a time like this means that the rest of us have to be leaders. You must be a leader. We are the leaders we’ve been waiting for."
Robert Reich's full column for The Guardian is available at this link.
