President Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration drew a sharp rebuke by GOP strategist Rick Wilson on Saturday, and he even warned Republicans of the door they’ve opened for Democrats by letting him declare it.
On Friday, Trump announced that he would sign a funding bill passed by Congress that gives him $1.3 billion for 55 miles of additional border fencing. The move averts a government shutdown, but Trump sparked a Constitutional crisis by declaring a national emergency in order to steal billions of dollars to build his wall, thus violating Congress’ power of the purse.
Trump rambled and ranted for the duration of the announcement, even going so far as to reject his own administration’s immigration statistics.
In a column for The Daily Beast, Wilson ripped Trump a new one:
“This was a performance for his press-hatin’ yokels, a display of Trump’s feral cunning about how easily satisfied the corrupt remnants of the Republican party are by his clownish media tantrums,” Wilson wrote.
“The declaration of a phony national emergency represents the biggest false flag in recent American political history. Sure, Ann Coulter peeks through the curtains seven times a night to spot the oncoming brown horde, but no serious person believes this rises to anything near the level of an actual crisis.
“An extra-constitutional order based on a false crisis is something much worse than just a feeble PR play by a frustrated, failed president itching to do something after being slapped by Nancy Pelosi.”
But Wilson noted that even Republicans in Congress opposed Trump’s action:
“I spoke to Republicans in both the House and Senate today, including several who are strong supporters of the president,” Wilson said. “Every single one thinks the executive order is an absolutely terrible idea. As policy, the emergency order is a flaming disaster. Nothing good will come of it, and they all know it.”
Not only did Wilson lament that Republicans will do nothing to stop it, he pointed out that the GOP will regret not doing so because Democrats will seize upon this new power to deal with issues they care about.
“Set aside the precedent-setting nature of just how Trump is applying this emergency declaration and you’ll see why all of them recognize the power he’s handing to future Democratic presidents,” Wilson observed. “They know it. They’re terrified of it. And, as always, they won’t do a thing to stop it.”
“The moment Trump opened this gate was the moment Republicans permanently gave up their ability to call for controls over an executive branch running roughshod over the Constitution.
“When a Democratic president takes office in 2021 or 2025 and decides to act, we’ve given them every excuse. After all, they’ve got so much work to do and they’re just not getting their objectives through a stubborn Congress. It’s an emergency, after all.”
Indeed, even House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) warned Republicans that a Democratic president may not hesitate to declare a national emergency to deal with gun violence, which could include taking guns away from Americans, something Republicans claim to fear. Well, they just opened the door for that exact scenario to come true.
In addition, Democrats could declare a national emergency to deal with climate change, healthcare and a host of other issues Republicans have refused to compromise on for years now and have caused our country problems that desperately need a permanent fix.
Republicans may be okay with Trump doing this right now because they control the White House, but what they have done is surrender the power of the legislative branch, turning the executive into an authoritarian position that Democrats will inherit and use to their own advantage in years to come. And every time Republicans complain, Trump’s national emergency will be thrown in their face as Democrats move the nation forward by executive action instead of waiting for compromise from Republicans that will never come.
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