The Patriot Post® · Trump, Treason and Democrats

President Donald Trump has a habit of giving powerful speeches only to follow them up by saying something stupid (usually on Twitter) that gives fodder to the Leftmedia and derails his momentum. That was partially the case yet again yesterday in a speech that was supposed to be about the economy but ended up devolving into partisan sniping. He told an Ohio crowd, “[Democrats] would rather see Trump do badly, ok, than our country do well — it’s very selfish — even on positive news, really positive news … they were like death and un-American. Un-American. Somebody [in the crowd] said ‘treasonous.’ I mean, yeah, I guess, why not? Can we call that treason? Why not? I mean, [Democrats] certainly didn’t seem to love our country very much. But you look at that and it’s really very, very sad.”

The crowd laughed at multiple points, and Trump was clearly playing for it, but that didn’t stop leftists from caterwauling about it as proof of his Hitlerian bent.

First, it should go without saying such language is not the way American presidents should speak. Every Trump fan would lose their mind if Barack Obama had said the same thing, even in jest. Obama did make lesser but similar charges against opponents, and every conservative objected. But Trump does often speak like an authoritarian and thus it makes such labels far easier to apply to him. It’s also one reason why he had such vociferous opposition in the GOP primaries. Treason has a specific definition (Article III, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution), and it’s not a word that should be thrown about flippantly. Chief of Staff John Kelly, call your office.

On the other hand, Trump has never made the first move to carry through with anything remotely like the rhetorical hyperbole he uses on the stump to complain about or “threaten” opponents — language that he intends as New Yorker bluster, not policy or law enforcement prescription. Obama, on the other hand, actually weaponized federal agencies to punish political opponents.

Leftist hypocrisy goes even deeper. They wail every day about Trump, his family and his campaign committing treason. What else is the whole “collusion with Russia” nonsense about? And for eight years, those of us who steadfastly opposed Obama’s statist policies meant to “fundamentally transform” America were labeled not just racist but treasonous. All the time. The difference is Democrats weren’t kidding. So please, Demo and media talkingheads, spare us your phony outrage now.

Finally, aside from agreeing to a word suggested to him by a member of the audience, Trump was right — Democrats certainly do seem to hate him more than they love America.