It’s Thanksgiving weekend, and while many Americans are dreaming about what to serve as side dishes for dinner (alongside the turkey, of course), one Democratic lawmaker in the House of Representatives is saying that the president may believe we are meant to serve him at his every wish and whim.
Rep. Jim Himes (D-Connecticut) opined on Wednesday morning that President Donald Trump acts more like a monarch than he does a democratically elected official. In the latter sense, such an official is meant to serve the people; but in the former, the people would serve him, and that’s exactly what Himes thinks Trump believes his role as president entitles him to.
“This is a president who doesn’t understand that the government, that foreign countries, that everybody doesn’t exist to serve him like some kind of medieval king,” Himes said, according to reporting from th e Hill .
Himes pointed out the historical context of Trump’s supposed beliefs, pointing out that America was supposed to be the antithesis of such ideas.
“It’s a deeply concerning thing…this is what we used to criticize other countries for doing,” he added.
Himes specifically singled out Trump’s concerning criticisms against the Russia investigation, pointing to the president’s frequent habit of calling it a “witch hunt” and his repeated attacks against special counsel Robert Mueller, who is leading the inquiry.
Dem lawmaker: Trump thinks government exists to serve him like a “medieval king” https://t.co/grXAuBRMJV pic.twitter.com/1yZXH5bCm5
— The Hill (@thehill) November 21, 2018
Himes also made clear he had serious misgivings about Trump’s recent pick of Matthew Whitaker to lead as acting attorney general. Whitaker previously served as chief of staff to former AG Jeff Sessions, who was removed from office earlier this month following the midterm elections.
“[T]his is not the A-team at the top of the Department of Justice,” Himes said, pointing out controversial and partisan comments Whitaker has made against Mueller in the past.
Himes isn’t the only person to have drawn comparisons to Trump and the desires of kings. In June of this year, the USA Today editorial board also suggested that presidential powers Trump was seeking to employ were once looked at by our nation’s founders as detrimental to our democracy. They also noted the hypocrisy in the Republican Party’s allowances of Trump to behave the way he has so far as president versus what would have happened under any other Democratic administration.
“It’s a safe bet that had Democratic President Obama said or done any of these things, Republicans in Congress would be clamoring for his head,” the editorial board wrote. “Instead, they remain remarkably reticent as President Trump acts more and more like King Donald I.”
