Let's not lie to ourselves, if President Barack Obama had made remarks even half as shocking as some of the ones that President Trump has made thus far in his presidency, Republicans would be rallying outside of the White House calling for his removal. In fact, I'm sure Congressional Republicans would already be moving forward with impeachment proceedings.
So, why are we so lenient regarding President Trump when it comes to the downright appalling things that he has said as acting president?
President Trump's recent statement mentioning that he has the "absolute right" to pardon himself is just one of many dictatorial comments that he has made in his 500 days in office. Democrats, in typical fashion, were quick to condemn the statement by calling him the, ". . . restoration of King George III."
Sen. Ted Cruz penned out his thoughts on the matter in a Facebook post, where he is engaging in the debate of whether or not a sitting president has the constitutional authority to pardon themselves, rather than take a stance on one side or the other; and Rudy Giuliani and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy both came out against a self-pardon on the part of the president.
Still, many voices within the conservative and Republican camps are arguing that President Trump does, indeed, have the constitutional authority to pardon himself and that he would be well within his right should he choose to do so, pending any sort of indictment comes by way of the Mueller probe.
As for me, I'm not as concerned with the legality of the matter (although I do believe no president should have the authority to pardon themselves) as I am with the underlying despotic nature of this and some of the other views that President Trump has suggested in the past.
The idea that the leader of the free world believes he has the right to wash away any crime he has committed with the snap of a finger is incredibly frightening. If we want to contextualize just how scary that notion is let's pair that with his praise of Chinese President, Xi Jinping, for instating a lifetime term for himself, and mentioning that, "Maybe we'll have to give that a shot someday."
Whether or not these statements are made in jest makes no difference. They're unbecoming of anyone holding the office of President of the United States and deserve to be met with the strongest possible criticism from anyone who values liberty.
President Trump was met with widespread backlash for congratulating Russian President, Vladimir Putin, on "winning" his recent reelection, but that's yet another instance where he has praised an undemocratic occurrence. And just to drive the point home even more, here's a list of several other times where President Trump has spoken kindly about known dictators.
Thankfully we live in the greatest country on the face of the earth that values checks and balances, which means the likelihood of our republic falling into a dictatorship is slim to none. But that doesn't change the fact that President Trump's statements are inappropriate and need to be swiftly condemned.
Especially by the party that prides itself on standing athwart the extant autocratic regimes around the world.
