Column: Trump celebrates our nation’s founding while imitating tyrant King George III
It’s a measure of President Trump’s lack of self-awareness—essentially a superpower for authoritarian demagogues like himself who would otherwise avoid their worst impulses—that Trump apparently fails to see the glaring contradiction between his simultaneous support for protesters in Iran and condemnation of those at home.
For days, Trump paraded himself as the absolute protector of Iranian protesters against their country’s oppressive regime. ( so-called “America First” president If it hasn’t already, it could hit their country at any time.) “Patriots of Iran, KEEP PROTESTING – TAKE YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!!” HE sent Tuesday. “ON THE WAY TO HELP”
But he knew what was going on when he went to Minneapolis. sent Just an hour ago it was “Reckoning and Retaliation”. Its citizens — its citizens — were demonstrating in increasing numbers against the paramilitary structure Trump had created among Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents; one of them last week was killed There’s a woman there, Renee Nicole Good. Trump has counterproductively increased ICE deployment in the city, which is more than triple the Minneapolis police force.
Trump on Sunday night right Good kills: “The woman and her friend were extremely disrespectful to law enforcement.” This is coming from the man who watched for three hours on television on Jan. 6, 2021, as demonstrators at the U.S. Capitol disrespected law enforcement with chemical sprays, poles, planks, fists and bike racks. And he did nothing. Because they professional-Trump protesters. When he returns to duty, forgiven about 1,600 of them.
White House on the fifth anniversary of last week’s Trump-incited insurrection website He rewrote history to hide what Americans saw in real time; a distortion that truly disrespects law enforcement. In Trump’s version, the heroic Capitol Police were to blame for “aggressively” firing tear gas, flash grenades and plastic ammunition into crowds of peaceful protesters. Funny, not funny: This actually describes what ICE agents do. photos And various Americans‘ videos Open social media documentand not just in Minneapolis, but in Chicago, Portland, Oregon, Los Angeles, Memphis, New Orleans.
The “No to Kings” rallies last fall? Ever the stigmatizer, Trump led the chorus of Congressional sycophants in renaming these events “Hate America Rallies” and the 7 million peaceful protesters nationwide who attended them as communists and Marxists.
But here’s what makes the shameless contradictions in Trump’s stance on the right to protest even more sickening in 2026: This year, the nation celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the foundational act of U.S. anti-government protest.
It’s bad luck for Americans that a wannabe king like Trump is the presiding officer of the year-long commemorations of the rebellion that toppled a real king who eventually met the protesters with force and vengeance.
Trump is so eager to be the impresario of the sesquicentennial that he has already purchased the US Mint. to produce a $1 coin with his likeness for the occasion. As if Americans needed a reminder that for Trump, it’s all about him.
But you should really take the time to read document in commemoration of this celebration. If he had been self-aware, he would have seen that he resembled the king the founders opposed, and that his actions paralleled those that the founders cited as justification for separation.
Their list of charges against King George III includes: “The establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these provinces.” Consider Trump sending federal agents and National Guard troops to blue states and cities and threatening to send in the military over the objections of governors, mayors, state legislators and members of Congress.
Then there is this passage: The King “sent here hordes of Officers to trouble our people.” And this: “He has maintained among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the consent of our legislatures.” Moreover: He “protects them from the punishment of any Murder which they should commit against the Inhabitants of these States.”
Protecting officers from the consequences of alleged murders? In an unprecedented break with customary protocols in the wake of a law enforcement action as controversial as Good’s killing, the Trump administration is simply refusing to cooperate with Minnesota local and state officials. to research The ICE officer shot Good three times and denied them access to evidence. Trump’s Department of Justice – and he succeeded his The Justice Department rejected the usual civil rights investigation. Instead management continues to blame the victim on Good and to research he and his partner hoping to find some connections with activist groups.
Fortunately, there is a rebound that truly captures the spirit of 1776.
At least six federal prosecutors on Tuesday resigned is in protest, and others in Minnesota and Washington are reportedly accelerating plans to resign. Advocates across the country have condemned White House butler Stephen Miller for his false and provocative claims by ICE agents. immunity for his actions. Surveys to show By a wide margin, Americans believe Good’s shooting was unjustified. Support for ICE continues to wane; Most Americans now oppose it.
But what worries Trump most is that he’s lost Uber-podcaster Joe Rogan to a former supporter, primarily white men. “You don’t want militarized people just walking around the streets, grabbing people, and a lot of them turn out to be actually U.S. citizens and they don’t have papers,” Rogan said. in question airing this week. “Are we really going to be the Gestapo, ‘Where are your papers?’ Is this the point we have reached?
Yes like that. However, as a result, it is certain that the protests will continue and increase. What better year for this to happen? This is not only the sesquicentennial year, it is also the year of a midterm election. As Trump likes to tell those he targets (in Venezuela, Greenland and Iran), they can come the easy way or the hard way. The American people offer him the same choice. It remains to choose the difficult path.
Blue sky: @jackiecalmes
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