In the midst of political haywire surrounding Attorney General Jeff Sessions' contact with a Russian ambassador during the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump is doing what he does best to avoid accountability for his errors: making up bullshit instead.
On Saturday, March 4th, the 45th President of the United States tweeted unsubstantiated — and widely disputed — claims that former President Barack Obama had ordered officials to tap into Trump's phones, tweeting:
"Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my "wires tapped" in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!"
With no evidence provided to even begin to suggest that there's a grain of truth in Trump's latest fallacy, it has become increasingly evident that in the era of Alternative Facts provided under the Trump administration, evidence is not needed to make powerful and potentially damaging claims.
As reiterated by White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, Trump is demanding a congressional inquiry into whether Obama violated federal authority during the 2016 election.
Former aides and a spokesman for Obama have vehemently denied the allegations, stating that the claims were made without merit and that it was a "cardinal rule of the Obama administration" not to violate the constitutional rights of citizens through means like wiretapping.
The fact of the matter is that the Trump White House has built its entire administration off of unsubstantiated claims that have been doctors and manipulated to fit their agenda. Trump's presidency is a direct attack on the integrity of the Oval Office and the presidential symbolism of American democracy.
Democracy is not scapegoating and fear mongering, as illustrated during Trump's political career. Democracy is provided constituents with the truth, even if it isn't the most beneficial source of information for your political career. American citizens have a right to know what the facts are, not the alternative ones. In the digital era of citizen journalism and clickbait, it is more imperative now than it has ever been for citizens to educate themselves from a variety of credible sources and perspectives, not from the likes of Breitbart News. I don't want my political information to stem from the very same people who are stroking the egos of the president in hopes of promoting their own vile, manipulated agenda.
Republicans in Congress and across the United States need to decide once and for all what they prioritize most: the rights protected under the U.S. Constitution, or the presidency run by a man who accuses first and looks for evidence last.
