Watching Mr. Trump address the Congress and the nation last week was like watching a train wreck. You don’t want to stare at the carnage, but you can’t look away either. Carnage may be too strong a word; no one died – yet – because of the 99-minute-long speech, but one could make a case that the truth died as a result of his comments. So, too, did any sense of bipartisanship, grace, or statesmanship. Rather than offer ideas to resolve challenges, Mr. Trump used the House chamber to litigate old grievances, attack elected Democratic officials and demonstrate the same boorishness we’ve seen on the campaign trail, and, recently, in his Oval Office meetings. In every way and every day, Mr. Trump reflects and reiterates his “I am your retribution” campaign promise.
The speech to Congress was less a focus on the future and more a blast from the past. The House of Representatives can be a bit raucous at times, although nothing like the British House of Commons, but Trump’s lengthy diatribe contained so many lies and misinformation that his speechwriters probably need to go to confession. Millions of Social Security recipients are not living to extraordinary ages. The blame lies squarely on outdated computer systems that failed to record recipient deaths for some people born in 1920 or earlier. In fact, there are fewer than 90,000 Americans over the age of 100, or 0.027 percent of the entire population. That statistic easily can be verified, even by the President of the United States and his henchmen but wouldn’t make the kind of headlines they crave.
“Tariffs” may be Mr. Trump’s favorite word, but it is clear, perhaps to everyone but him, that the importer pays the tariff and passes the cost along to the customer. Congressman Don Beyer (VA-08) revealed that the Congressional Joint Economic Committee estimates that tariffs threatened by the Trump Administration will cost the average American family $1600 to $2000 annually. Even more curious is that Trump-threatened tariffs are targeted against our closest allies, Canada and Mexico. Pushback from those North American leaders was eloquent but pointed, and Canada’s newly-elected Prime Minister Mark Carney said that Canada’s tariffs in response to Trump’s actions will remain until the Americans “show us respect.” Following market plunges and outcries from industries, Trump deferred implementing his tariff scheme to April 2 rather than the more apt April Fools’ Day.
As chief disruptor and chaos commander, Trump’s damage to democracy, less than two months into his second term, is dangerous and extraordinary. In his zeal to be the center of attention, he threatens, bullies, and denigrates friends and foes alike – our allies, the press, women, LGBTQ+, federal employees, veterans, the legal profession. He picks fights where there are no fights to be picked, and doubles down when questioned. There appear to be no guardrails, and no rational adults to counsel a pullback from the precipice. Where is the moral backbone? The courage, integrity, duty, and devotion to the Constitution that were the high principles we traditionally expected from our elected leaders on both sides of the aisle? The train wreck is happening, and we must not look away, or fail to act.
