Veteran journalist Dan Rather is no fan of president Donald Trump and he definitely doesn’t support Trump’s declaring a national emergency over funding the border wall, The New Civil Rights Movement reports. And many people, Republicans included, believe this is a bald-faced and unconstitutional attempt to scuttle the rights of Congress as described in the U.S. Constitution in an effort to exert financial control over the country.
More than a few people were stunned by Trump’s — shall we say “free-form” — and incoherent speech last Friday where he said he was calling the situation a national emergency so that funds could be re-allocated from Defense Department to the building of his wall. Once again he relied on one of his favorite talking points about drugs crossing the border.
But for most of us, the tipping point in his speech was when he admitted, “I didn’t need to” declare a national emergency, and adding that he was only doing this to fulfill a campaign promise and speed up the process.
“The primary fight was on the wall,” Trump said in reference to his federal government shutdown. “I have so much money on everything else, I don’t know what to do with it. I could do the wall over a longer period of time — I didn’t need to do this — but I wanted to do it faster.”
In a comment that you can bet is going to be cited in lawsuits against this national emergency, Trump admits, "I didn't need to do this, but I'd rather do it much faster." pic.twitter.com/FD0m1aHQcZ
— David Mack (@davidmackau) February 15, 2019
So Dan Rather responded in the most Dan Rather way possible. By insulting Trump on Twitter with a brief but brutal tweet.
“I didn’t need to do this” is something I occasionally say after ordering dessert, not after ordering national emergencies.”
"I didn't need to do this" is something I occasionally say after ordering dessert, not after ordering national emergencies.
— Dan Rather (@DanRather) February 18, 2019
Rather has gone to bat against Trump more than a few times. After the president criticized a youngster by asking if it was “marginal” to believe in Santa Claus, the venerated newsman fired this salvo:
“Just a thought: Which should be considered more ‘marginal’— the belief in Santa Claus after the age of 7 or not believing in climate change at 72?”
Just a thought: Which should be considered more “marginal” – believing in Santa at age 7 or not believing in climate change at age 72?
— Dan Rather (@DanRather) December 25, 2018
Late last year Trump made the headlines after rejecting a report from scientists in his own administration the deleterious effects of man-made climate change by instead talking about America’s air and water, which he said was at a “record clean.”
Watch Rather and CNN’s Don Lemon criticize Trump for thinking he’s above the law in this video from just a few months ago.
Featured image by CNN via YouTube video
