The "No Apologies" Tour continues:
Two Republican Senators blasted Trump’s use of the Bible as symbol of oppression. See TPM, “GOP Sen. Sasse Blasts Trump For Using ‘The Word Of God’ As A ‘Political Prop’.”
Religious leaders expressed outrage that Trump perverted the message of
Two Republican Senators blasted Trump’s use of the Bible as symbol of oppression. See TPM, “GOP Sen. Sasse Blasts Trump For Using ‘The Word Of God’ As A ‘Political Prop’.”
Religious leaders expressed outrage that Trump perverted the message of
the Bible to create a political advertisement. Worse, Trump’s faux religiosity was exposed. Trump held the Bible as if it were a squid or “an artifact from Mars.” As Philip Rotner writes, Trump’s awkward pose was his “Dukakis moment”—the photo op that ended the presidential
ambitions of the Massachusetts Governor. A priest and seminarian at St. John’s were driven from the church by Trump’s use of tear gas—an attack on clergy that will reverberate through religious congregations across America. See HuffPost, “Religious Leaders Say They Were
Tear-Gassed For Trump’s Church Photo-Op.” Attacking clergy is always a bad idea, but especially so for a president whose religious credentials are a thinly veiled fiction not discussed among the polite society of his evangelical supporters.
Trump’s use of federal officers to
Trump’s use of federal officers to
attack peaceful protestors drew condemnation from former military leaders. Former Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen, penned in op-ed in The Atlantic, “I Cannot Remain Silent.” Admiral Mullen wrote that “It sickened me yesterday to see . . . the National
Guard—forcibly and violently clear a path through Lafayette Square.” Admiral Mullen raised the prospect that Trump’s illegal orders will dissolve military cohesion and discipline. Mullen writes that the troops “will obey lawful orders. But I am less confident in the soundness
of the orders they will be given by this commander in chief.” In effect, a widely-respected retired military leader is questioning the constitutionality of Trump’s use of the military—an extraordinary development in our nation’s history.
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Milley accompanied Trump on his march to St. John’s Church—an affront to the neutrality of the U.S. military in domestic matters. On Tuesday, Esper and Milley, apparently having heard stinging criticism from senior military officials,
claimed that they “did not know” that they were following Trump to St. John’s Church or that Lafayette Square had been cleared by force. They claim, instead, that they believed they were going into the streets of D.C. to meet National Guard troops. See CNBC, “Pentagon official
says Defense Secretary Esper and Chairman Milley were not aware of Trump church photo-op plan.” That does not explain why Esper joined the photo-op in front of St. John’s. The Pentagon spokesman is lying, or Esper and Milley are too naïve to lead our military forces.
