Is Donald Trump still the US president?

Robert Reich

You’d be forgiven if you hadn’t noticed. His verbal bombshells are louder than ever, but Donald J. Trump is no longer president of the United States. By having no constructive response to any of the monumental crises now convulsing America, Trump has abdicated his office. He is not governing. He’s golfing, watching cable TV, and tweeting.

How has Trump responded to the widespread unrest following the murder in Minneapolis of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for nine minutes as he was handcuffed on the ground?

He has incited more police violence. Trump called the protesters “thugs” and threatened to have them shot. “When the looting starts, the shooting starts,” he tweeted, parroting a former Miami police chief whose words spurred race riots in the late 1960s.

The following day he encouraged more police violence, gloating about “the most vicious dogs, and most ominous weapons” awaiting protesters outside the White House, should they ever break through Secret Service lines. On Sunday he again resorted to incendiary tweets, instructing “Democrat Mayors and Governors” to “get tough” on the “ANARCHISTS.”

Trump’s response to George Floyd’s murder has debased the presidency and squandered whatever moral authority remained. Trump’s response to the last three ghastly months of mounting disease and death has been just as heedless. Since claiming Covid-19 was a “Democratic hoax” and muzzling public health officials, he has punted management of the coronavirus to the states.

Governors have had to find ventilators to keep patients alive and protective equipment for hospital and other essential workers who lack it, often bidding against each other. They have had to decide how, when, and where to reopen their economies.

Trump has claimed “no responsibility at all” for testing and contact-tracing – the keys to containing the virus. His new “plan” places responsibility on states to do their own testing and contact-tracing.

Trump is also AWOL in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

More than 41 million Americans are jobless. In the coming weeks temporary eviction moratoriums are set to end in half of the states. One-fifth of Americans missed rent payments this month. Extra unemployment benefits are set to expire at the end of July.

What is Trump’s response? Like Herbert Hoover, who in 1930 said “the worst is behind us” as thousands starved, Trump says the economy will improve and does nothing about the growing hardship. The Democratic-led House passed a $3 trillion relief package on May 15. Mitch McConnell has recessed the Senate without taking action and Trump calls the bill dead on arrival.

What about other pressing issues a real president would be addressing? The House has passed nearly 400 bills this term, including measures to reduce climate change, enhance election security, require background checks on gun sales, reauthorise the Violence Against Women Act and reform campaign finance. All are languishing in McConnell’s inbox. Trump doesn’t seem to be aware of any of them.

There is nothing inherently wrong with golfing, watching television and tweeting. But if that’s pretty much all that a president does when the nation is engulfed in crises, he is not a president.

Trump’s tweets are no substitute for governing. They are mostly about getting even.

When he’s not fomenting violence against black protesters, he’s accusing a media personality of committing murder, retweeting slurs about a black female politician’s weight and the House speaker’s looks, conjuring up conspiracies against himself supposedly organised by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, and encouraging his followers to “liberate” their states from lockdown restrictions.


He tweets bogus threats that he has no power to carry out – withholding funds from states that expand absentee voting, “overruling” governors who don’t allow places of worship to reopen “right away,” designating anti-fascism activists as terrorists, and punishing Twitter for fact-checking him.

And he lies incessantly.

In reality, Donald Trump does not run the government of the United States. He doesn’t manage anything. He doesn’t organise anyone. He doesn’t administer or oversee or supervise. He doesn’t read memos. He hates meetings. He has no patience for briefings. His White House is in perpetual chaos.

His advisors aren’t truth-tellers. They’re toadies, lackeys, sycophants and relatives.

Since moving into the Oval Office in January 2017, Trump hasn’t shown an ounce of interest in governing. He obsesses only about himself.
But it has taken the present set of crises to reveal the depths of his self-absorbed abdication – his utter contempt for his job, his total repudiation of his office.

Trump’s nonfeasance goes far beyond an absence of leadership or inattention to traditional norms and roles. In a time of national trauma, he has relinquished the core duties and responsibilities of the presidency.

He is no longer president. The sooner we stop treating him as if he were, the better.

Robert Reich is Berkeley professor, former Secretary of Labour and Co-founder Inequality Media

Rainy days should be spent at home with a cup of tea and a good book.” – Bill Patterson
Do You Know hat you can get 5 books for as low as 450 naira?
Now That You Know, what is stopping You from contacting me for your Books?
I sell ALL kinds of Books. My number is in my Bio.

Hahaha....Trump zombies nairaland chapter will soon come for your head @op.

The USA is in a total mess at the moment with the current toddler-in-chief a.k.a bunkerboy

Silence is best answer to fools, of which CNN the chief.

NO!
He's the Minister of Labour & Employment in Nigeria.

CNN is number one FAKE NEWS MEDIA on the world.

As expected from CNN

maryjames9:
CNN is number one FAKE NEWS MEDIA on the world.

See this one from the innermost slums of Nigeria calling a renowned professional,world class award winning media house like CNN fake.

Typical brainwashed zombie,so you expect CNN to be kissing and licking Trump's ass like u.

Trump has totally finished CNN and other Fake News media outlets. This is evident on how low their stocks have dipped. They will still have to monitor his twitter page for news because without Trump, they would have totally gone bankrupt.

egberetv new and biyafraud herald are better than cnn

maryjames9:
CNN is number one FAKE NEWS MEDIA on the world.

Lol
Who take cNN serious
Just like channel tv

Weedsmoker:

See this one from the innermost slums of Nigeria calling a renowned professional,world class award winning media house like CNN fake.

Typical brainwashed zombie,so you expect CNN to be kissing and licking Trump's ass like u.

Lol
Award winning ko
Coward wailing ni
Don’t forget to add channel tv

This man is really against Trump big time.

I myself, a staunch supporter of Trump, am beginning to lose patience with him.

Most US enemies are very happy to see comedian Trump continue as US president. But God will liberate USA.

Nigeriabiafra80:
Lol
Who take cNN serious
Just like channel tv

Their are millions around the world that still takes them serious,not everyone is a zombie like u.Is Trump the first Republican to set foot on the Whitehouse.Why didn't other Republican presidents complain of CNN being a fake news outlet.

Your Lord and Messiah trump is totally insane and has called majority of US media outlets fake news especially when they criticize him.

This is too much...

able20:
Most US enemies are very happy to see comedian Trump continue as US president. But God will liberate USA.

China and Russia must be working damn hard to get him reelected. Lol.

Weedsmoker:

Their are millions around the world that still takes them serious,not everyone is a zombie like u.Is Trump the first Republican to set foot on the Whitehouse.Why didn't other Republican presidents complain of CNN being a fake news outlet.

Your Lord and Messiah trump is totally insane and has called majority of US media outlets fake news especially when they criticize him.

And there are millions who don’t take them serious

Another nonsense liberal propaganda .

Just this week Trump enabled the release of an American prisoner forgotten in Iran

The stock markets are already roaring again

The writer should be asking if DEMOCRATs governors are still incharge of their states because available data seem to state other wise

Over 95 thousand COVID deaths in democrat run states

Over 85 percent of violent crimes are happening in democrat run states

George Floyd was killed in a Democrat run state .

90 percent of reported police race brutality bare happening in democrat run states

24 of the cities where riots , arson and looting took place are Democrat run states

This writer instead of asking if Trump is still in charge should rather is the democrats party working anywhere at all ?

The Democrat party survival depends on race disunity and they will do anything to make sure races don't unite

Weedsmoker:
Hahaha....Trump zombies nairaland chapter will soon come for your head @op.

The USA is in a total mess at the moment with the current toddler-in-chief a.k.a bunkerboy

POINT OF CORRECTION SIR

Democrat run states are in a Total mess not the US .

Over 90 percent of COVID deaths happened in Democrat run States

Over 85 percent of violent crimes are happening in democrat run states

George Floyd was killed in a Democrat run state .

90 percent of reported police race brutality bare happening in democrat run states

24 of the cities where riots , arson and looting took place are Democrat run states

The Democrat party is the actual problem

FarahAideed:


POINT OF CORRECTION SIR

Democrat run states are in a Total mess not the US .

Over 90 percent of COVID deaths happened in Democrat run States

Over 85 percent of violent crimes are happening in democrat run states

George Floyd was killed in a Democrat run state .

90 percent of reported police race brutality bare happening in democrat run states

24 of the cities where riots , arson and looting took place are Democrat run states

The Democrat party is the actual problem

Where did you manufacture this fake statistics from?

Weedsmoker:

Where did you manufacture this fake statistics from?

I didn't manufacture anything , these are well known facts

FarahAideed:


POINT OF CORRECTION SIR

Democrat run states are in a Total mess not the US .

Over 90 percent of COVID deaths happened in Democrat run States

Over 85 percent of violent crimes are happening in democrat run states

George Floyd was killed in a Democrat run state .

90 percent of reported police race brutality bare happening in democrat run states

24 of the cities where riots , arson and looting took place are Democrat run states

The Democrat party is the actual problem

You are still kissing the a@s of the morbidly obese pig that we Americans will kick into the garbage heap of history on Nov 3rd and there's nothing you and your ilks in Nigeria can do about it. By the way, almost 4 years of the vile racist pig presidency, he never mentioned Biafra once not even when he met Buhari at the White House last Summer. So what's your point in get your mouth all Orange from licking the a@s of the ugly fat pig.

Abbeybailey:
You are still kissing the a@s of the morbidly obese pig that we Americans will kick into the garbage heap of history on Nov 3rd and there's nothing you and your ilks in Nigeria can do about it. By the way, almost 4 years of the vile racist pig presidency, he never mentioned Biafra once not even when he met Buhari at the White House last Summer. So what's your point in get your mouth all Orange from licking the a@s of the ugly fat pig.

He is far older than you are but in better health than you , his heart is in good shape , good cholesterol for his age , no diabetes , no High blood pressure while you a younger man I gather you are a regular with antihypertensives and diabetic med and worse still your hood is now like Iraq because the Dems don't care

Abbey have you ever been this handsome ?

Lol

Americans are wise now.

FarahAideed:


He is far older than you are but in better health than you , his heart is in good shape , good cholesterol for his age , no diabetes , no High blood pressure while you a younger man I gather you are a regular with antihypertensives and diabetic med and worse still your hood is now like Iraq because the Dems don't care

Abbey have you ever been this handsome ?

You are truly a sick psychophant. Almost 74 year old man with mid stage dementia that weighs well over 320lbs with double chin and his gut covering his manhood. He could barely stand up without leaning forward and always slurs his speech not to talk of his serial lying. That's all sign of dementia that took the life of his father Fred in 1999 and demential also took his grandfather's life. We all know dementia is hereditary. If that kind of a man with high cholesterol and probably with heart defect is in better shape than You, you are in the category of an average Nigerian with a lifespan of 54 years. When is Trump giving you your Biafra ?.

Abbeybailey:
You are truly a sick psychophant. Almost 74 year old man with mid stage dementia that weighs well over 320lbs with double chin and his gut covering his manhood. He could barely stand up without leaning forward and always slurs his speech not to talk of his serial lying. That's all sign of dementia that took the life of his father Fred in 1999 and demential also took his grandfather's life. We all know dementia is hereditary. If that kind of a man with high cholesterol and probably with heart defect is in better shape than You, you are in the category of an average Nigerian with a lifespan of 54 years. When is Trump giving you your Biafra ?.

If you had a problem with dementia you will not be supporting Biden ...Trump is the most mentally sound 75 year old I have seen

able20:
Most US enemies are very happy to see comedian Trump continue as US president. But God will liberate USA.

Very funny which one be comedian Trump again.
Another said toddler in chief oh my