Donald Trump Is Already Waging War: Against Blue America
Importantly, Trump’s order purporting to authorize his intervention isn’t limited to Los Angeles; it could apply anywhere.
Indeed, earlier this week he issued a Truth Social message proclaiming: “We must expand effort[s] to detain and deport aliens in America’s largest cities.” He continued: “ICE Officers are herewith ordered, by notice of this TRUTH, to do all in their power to achieve the very important goal of delivering the single largest Mass Deportation Program in History. We must expand efforts to detain and deport Illegal Aliens in America’s largest Cities, such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, where Millions upon Millions of Illegal Aliens reside.”
Why those cities? According to Trump: “These, and other such Cities, are the core of the Democrat Power Center, where they use Illegal Aliens to expand their Voter Base, cheat in Elections, and grow the Welfare State, robbing good paying Jobs and Benefits from Hardworking American Citizens.”
It’s a breathtaking statement from an American president. The various accusations against Democrats are patently false. But even setting that aside, exploiting a supposed national crisis to demonize political opponents is antithetical to a president’s role in moments of national crisis.
Nor is it an isolated example. This week saw horrific murders and attempted murders by a Trump partisan in Minnesota—exactly the kind of violence long feared as a product of Trump’s incendiary rhetoric.
What do we expect from a president in such circumstances? Consider President George W. Bush after the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting, saying the tragedy “is felt in every American classroom and every American community.” Or President Barack Obama, who called then–Republican Governor of Arizona Jan Brewer to offer federal resources after the shooting of Gabby Giffords. They and other presidents acted swiftly to reassure and unify the nation and reaffirm broad democratic values.
