Just Say Know
Yesterday, Trump sat down to be interviewed on Meet the Press. If you only had half-an-eye on the news, you have a good idea where it's going. As at least the starting point.
KRISTEN WELKER: "Don't you need to uphold the Constitution of the United States, Mr. President?"
TRUMP: "I don't know."
It is my hope (but also my assumption that already) this exchange will be made into an ad for the Mid-terms and run relentlessly, almost on a loop.
It could be an inexpensive, 10-second ad – inexpensive to make, but also inexpensive as an “ad buy. But also a full production where it’s shown juxtaposed with video of him swearing his oath of office – twice. And intercut with Americans of both sides asked the same question, all of them answering “Yes, of course.” And intercut, as well, with MAGOP candidates asked the same question – Does the president need to uphold the U.S. Constitution” -- and show them all stumbling, afraid to answer honestly and offend their dear leader.
And it could end, “I’m [Fill in their name] and I intensely disapprove of Donald Trump’s message. But I approve of this message.”
For that matter, whether put into a TV ad or not, every politician, whatever their party, should be asked two questions – Does any President of the United States need to uphold the Constitution of the United States? And do you, as a member of Congress, need to uphold the U.S. Constitution.”
I think it’s a safe bet that every Democrat running with answering yes. And if some MAGOPs do, as I’m sure some will – indeed, many might – then great, it’s important to establish what is basic and obvious for the record. And in doing so, it contradicts and undermines Trump. (In fact, that would be a good TV ad, as well, edited in with Democrats saying the same.) But I’m equally sure that many MAGOP politicians and candidates will be flummoxed how to answer – and their bewilderment should be deeply problematic for them.
But the simple repetition of –
KRISTEN WELKER: "Don't you need to uphold the Constitution of the United States, Mr. President?"
TRUMP: "I don't know."
Should be damning to the party. Because even if any MAGOP disagree with Trump on this, they still are at risk of enabling a man who says that he doesn’t know if, as president, he needs to uphold the Constitution, and enacting his policies by voting them into law.
The thing is, too, that Trump’s interview on Meet the Press yesterday wasn’t just as bad as him saying he didn’t know if he needed to uphold the U.S. Constitution. That alone is, of course, so horrible anything else risks being a distraction. But still, within the conversation, it had host Kristen Welker saying –
“In a 9-0 decision, the Supreme Court directed your administration to facilitate the return. You said in a recent interview you could bring him back, but you won't. Are you defying the Supreme Court?"
To which Trump distanced himself from all responsibility by answering: "I'm relying on the attorney general of the United States, Pam Bondi, who's very capable, doing a great job, because I'm not involved in the legality or the illegality.”
Never mind, of course, that the question was about the Supreme Court of the United States ruling unanimously 9-0 what the “legality” was. So, ignoring that ruling is absolutely involving himself in illegality.
After which, Welker asked Trump: "Your Secretary of State says everyone who's here, citizens and noncitizens, deserve due process. Do you agree, Mr. President?"
Trump replied: “I don't know. I'm not, I'm not a lawyer. I don't know.”
For the record, “due process” is in the U.S. Constitution. It’s something pretty much all schoolchildren know. Which is what led to Welker asking: "Don't you need to uphold the Constitution of the United States, Mr. President?"
"I don't know," Trump answered yet again with what appears to be becoming his favorite three words, but he also continued: "I have to respond by saying again, I have brilliant lawyers that work for me, and they are going to obviously follow what the Supreme Court said."
Except he and they are not following what the Supreme Court said, which is the whole point of the exchange.
And his lawyers aren’t all that brilliant, given that his Executive Orders – which these lawyers, no doubt, keep telling him are perfectly legal -- keep losing regularly in court.
(Whether his “brilliant lawyers” actually believe or have convinced themselves that any of these illicit orders are really legal, or they always just tell him that whatever he wants to do is fine and legal and “Go ahead, sir” because they’re “yes men” sycophants and afraid to say “no” to him, who knows? In the end, it works out to the same thing.)
And in the end, what also leaps out – as a companion to Trump saying he doesn’t know whether he needs to uphold the Constitution of the United States, despite swearing an oath to do so – is how often Trump’s answer to the questions he got yesterday, and so many of the questions he’s asked (remembering, too, that he pleaded the Fifth Amendment 450 times in his New York fraud trial, for which he was found guilty) is “I don’t know.” And always put the blame on others.
Just what you’re looking for in the head of the country. The most powerful man in the world. The man who insists I runs the world. The man who posted a graphic of himself as Pope.
A friend of mine is a substitute schoolteacher. I particularly love when he gets second graders. The stories are adorable. And my favorite of his stories was when described saying (with a smile and laugh in his voice) to a kid, “Wait, how in the world did you lose…your shoes??? And you told me, ‘I don’t knooo-oow.” So, I asked, ‘But how could you not know how you lost your shoes??’ And you said, “I don’t knoooo-ooow.” But these are your shoes!! How could you lose your shoes??!! ‘I don’t knooooo-ooowww.”
He said the kids were all laughing, even the kid who’d lost his shoes. And it is funny. It’s hilarious. When you’re seven years old.
Less funny is when you’re president of the United States.
Are a convicted felon, adjudicated of rape, and found guilty of business fraud.
And want people to see you as Pope.
And say “I don’t knoo--ow” to every challenging question.
Including when asked if you need to uphold the U.S. Constitution.
Which isn’t a challenging question.
But is basic.
And what you twice swore an oath to.
Something even second graders who lose their shoes know.
Maybe he thinks the loophole in the oath is, "To the best of my ability."
It's not a loophole.
It's a requirement. One so foundational to democracy that if you can't manage it, you have no business being in office. Something every member of Congress knows. And most every citizen knows and understands. Including Trump. He can't blame this on his dementia. Because that's what the 25th Amendment was created for.
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