By Robert Reich
Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway charges that media coverage of
Donald Trump lacks “respect for and recognition of the dignity for the office
of the president.”
No, Kellyanne, it’s Donald Trump who lacks respect for and
recognition of the dignity of the office of the president.
A small sampling of Trump’s words and actions from recent
days:
1. After being told of a Texas state senator who wants to
require convictions before the state can forfeit property, Trump asks for the
senator’s name and says “we’ll destroy his career.”
2. In response to criticism by Senator John McCain that his
Yemen operation wasn’t successful, Trump says McCain “only emboldens the enemy!
He’s been losing so long he doesn’t know how to win anymore.”
3. After Senator Richard Blumenthal relates that his Supreme
Court nominee finds Trump’s criticisms of the courts “demoralizing,” Trump
blasts Blumenthal “who never fought in Vietnam when he said for years he had
(major lie), now misrepresents what Judge Gorsuch told him.”
And lots more....
4. Trump tells the press that “daughter Ivanka has been treated
so unfairly by @Nordstrom,” after Nordstrom dropped her line due to declining
sales.
5. Trump tells military officials that America’s “very dishonest
press doesn’t want to report” acts of terrorism.
6. Trump threatens to “end the sanctuary cities that have
resulted in so many needless deaths,” when there’s no evidence of “needless
deaths” in sanctuary cities.
7. When his ban on entry to the United States from 7 Muslim countries,
which exempts Christians, is stayed by a federal judge, Trump attacks the
“so-called judge,” saying “if something happens blame him and court system.”
8. He tells a meeting of senators that he would have won New
Hampshire in the presidential election if not for the “thousands” of people who
were “brought in on buses” from neighboring Massachusetts to “illegally” vote
in New Hampshire – despite not one iota of evidence this occurred.
9. In that same meeting he Trump taunts Democrats by telling them
"Pocahontas is now the face of your party,” his insult of choice for
Senator Elizabeth Warren.
10. Trump warns Mexican President Pena Nieto that he’s ready to
send U.S. troops to Mexico to stop “bad hombres down there” if Mexico’s
military can’t control them.
11. He berates Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull for
assuming the U.S. would follow through on its deal to take some refugees that
had come to Australia.
12. At a National Prayer Breakfast Trump asks attendees to “pray
for former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger” (who replaced him as the host
of NBC’s The Celebrity Apprentice) because the show’s ratings haven’t reached
the level they did with Trump as the star.
13. Trump continues to rake in money from his businesses that
benefit from his being president.
Every day that goes by, Trump further disgraces the office he
holds. His lack of respect for the presidency knows no bounds.
ROBERT B. REICH is Chancellor's Professor of
Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley and Senior Fellow at
the Blum Center for Developing Economies. He served as Secretary of Labor in
the Clinton administration, for which Time Magazine named him one of the ten
most effective cabinet secretaries of the twentieth century. He has written
fourteen books, including the best sellers "Aftershock", "The
Work of Nations," and "Beyond Outrage," and, his most recent,
"Saving Capitalism." He is also a founding editor of the American
Prospect magazine, chairman of Common Cause, a member of the American Academy of
Arts and Sciences, and co-creator of the award-winning documentary, INEQUALITY
FOR ALL.