Still, policies are secondary in this election. The primary question is “will you uphold the Constitution?”
For his part, Mr. Trump made clear his disdain for American democracy when he tried to overturn the fair and legitimate presidential election of 2020, culminating in the violent insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.
Trump’s unpatriotic provocations on Jan. 6 and their grave consequences must remain front and center. Journalists need to stay on Trump for the assault of 140 police officers, death of three Capitol officers and monetary losses totaling $2.7 million. The former president needs to explain to America why he watched the violent chaos on TV for 187 minutes before releasing a video message that, while presumably calling for a halt to the violence, also praised the insurrectionists.
It’s not hyperbole: Harris’s opponent instigated one of the most infamous days in United States history, joining the tragic trifecta of Fort Sumter, Pearl Harbor and the Twin Towers.
The former president’s perversion of the Constitution becomes particularly insufferable given the unpatriotic disdain he has shown to individuals who sacrificed their lives defending America’s core values, as was shockingly displayed when he called veterans who died in World War I “losers” and “suckers.” And most recently with his disgraceful campaign photo op at Arlington National Cemetery.
The offenses pile up. And so do the rationalizations by “respectable” Republicans who downplay such unpatriotic behavior or default to policymaking.
As Liz Cheney incisively stated, Republicans can survive four years of policies they don’t like or agree with, but the nation “can’t survive a president who is willing to torch the Constitution.”