In his speech at the Democratic National Convention last month, a Muslim-American lawyer and father of a U.S. soldier killed in Iraq famously waved a pocket copy of the Constitution in the air and asked Donald Trump if he had even read it.
This was not the first time that Democrats have accused Trump of being in opposition to the Constitution. They have done so since Trump began his campaign for president. The ACLU calls Trump “a one-man constitutional crisis,” and says that his “statements and policy proposals would blatantly violate the inalienable rights guaranteed by the Constitution.”
Some Republicans have leveled similar criticisms against Trump. Especially after Trump’s gaffe when he met with House Republicans last month. In response to a lawmaker’s question about how he would protect the powers of Congress as outlined in Article I of the Constitution, Trump responded that he “wanted to protect Article I, Article II—all the way through Article XII.” There are, of course, only seven articles in the Constitution. In a National Review symposium, Glenn Beck accused Trump of advocating that the Constitution be ignored and Mark Helprin stated that Trump doesn’t know the Constitution.
Republicans also regularly criticize Democrats for violating the Constitution. The new 2016 GOP platform charges “the current Administration” with exceeding “its constitutional authority” and “Democrats in Congress” of endorsing “an anticonstitutional agenda of their own.”
Now, it is certainly true that Democrats violate the Constitution morning, noon, and night. How could they not when they generally believe that there is a constitutional right for everyone to receive health care, a woman to get an abortion, and a transgender individual to use the restroom of his/her choice.
But Republicans need to look in the mirror. When they do, they will see that they are enemies of the Constitution as well. In fact, Republicans are worse than Democrats because of their professed allegiance to the Constitution.
In their new 2016 platform, Republicans say about the Constitution:
We believe in the Constitution as our founding document.
We believe the Constitution was written not as a flexible document, but as our enduring covenant.
We are the party of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
We are also the party of the Constitution, the greatest political document ever written.
We affirm that all legislation, regulation, and official actions must conform to the Constitution’s original meaning as understood at the time the language was adopted.
We, therefore, support the appointment of justices and judges who respect the constitutional limits on their power and respect the authority of the states to decide such fundamental social questions.
The Constitution gives the federal government very few powers, and they are specifically enumerated; the states and the people retain authority over all unenumerated powers.
Too bad they don’t believe a word of this.
Former Republican presidential candidate and current senator Marco Rubio has said that Obama “systematically and habitually violates the Constitution.” But are Republicans any better? Consider the following—
Republicans systematically and habitually violate the Constitution when they support the war on drugs.
Republicans systematically and habitually violate the Constitution when they support Medicare.
Republicans systematically and habitually violate the Constitution when they support Social Security.
Republicans systematically and habitually violate the Constitution when they support government funding for the arts.
Republicans systematically and habitually violate the Constitution when they support the National School Lunch Program.
Republicans systematically and habitually violate the Constitution when they support food stamps.
Republicans systematically and habitually violate the Constitution when they support foreign aid.
Republicans systematically and habitually violate the Constitution when they support the TSA.
Republicans systematically and habitually violate the Constitution when they support government funding for scientific and medical research.
Republicans systematically and habitually violate the Constitution when they support Pell Grants.
Republicans systematically and habitually violate the Constitution when they support CAFE standards.
Republicans systematically and habitually violate the Constitution when they support federal anti-discrimination laws.
Republicans systematically and habitually violate the Constitution when they support the Food and Drug Administration.
Republicans systematically and habitually violate the Constitution when they support government funding for space exploration.
Republicans systematically and habitually violate the Constitution when they support the Environmental Protection Agency.
Republicans systematically and habitually violate the Constitution when they support the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Republicans systematically and habitually violate the Constitution when they support Medicaid.
Republicans systematically and habitually violate the Constitution when they support the federal student loan program.
Republicans systematically and habitually violate the Constitution when they support the National Flood Insurance Program.
Republicans systematically and habitually violate the Constitution when they support the Small Business Administration.
Republicans systematically and habitually violate the Constitution when they support the Department of Education.
Republicans systematically and habitually violate the Constitution when they support the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
Republicans systematically and habitually violate the Constitution when they support the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
Republicans systematically and habitually violate the Constitution when they support section 8 housing vouchers.
Republicans systematically and habitually violate the Constitution when they support the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Republicans systematically and habitually violate the Constitution when they support the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
Republicans systematically and habitually violate the Constitution when they support the Women, Infants, and Children program.
Republicans systematically and habitually violate the Constitution when they support Head Start.
Republicans systematically and habitually violate the Constitution when they support the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.
Republicans systematically and habitually violate the Constitution when they support AMTRAK.
None of these things that Republicans support the federal government doing are authorized by the Constitution. No not one. Republicans are enemies of the Constitution. For them to criticize Trump and the Democrats for being ignorant of and violating the Constitution is the greatest example in history of the pot calling the kettle black.