February 16, 2020

During a panel discussion on Trump and the rule of law, conservative columnist Jennifer Rubin did a fine job taking apart Trump's base and the dangerous road to authoritarianism we're on now, where his supporters and enablers have no problem whatsoever with Dear Leader behaving as though he's above the law, and what's going to be left of our democracy if this is allowed to continue.

Rubin called Trump's supporters "cultists" and"idolaters" and then was immediately proven correct by the response to MSNBC host Joy Reid's questions by right wing Ohio radio host Tracey Winbush.

RUBIN: I think what we've discovered is the Republican party is not a conservative party, it's an authoritarian party. (crosstalk) That... when you see someone who invests all hope, all faith in an individual, without realizing that every player in our constitutional system has restraint, has limitations on power.

They have adopted the strong man of history here. Donald Trump... we don't put blinding faith in the president of the United States. We don't allow any president to intervene in a specific case in order to punish people or to show lenience to people. We don't allow a president to lie. We don't allow a president to bully a prosecutor or bully a jury when the jury is out in the Manafort trial. […]

In our system the allegiance that we owe is to the Constitution and the restraints. You can favor the policies, but you have to have these individuals, whether it's the president, or this Congress, or it's the Supreme Court, operating within the rule of law, and that is what has fundamentally changed is that Trump is not doing that.

As long as you have people who are essentially cultists, idolaters, who are investing all hope, all faith, all protection in Donald Trump we are on the road to authoritarianism.

And here's Winbush proving her point and leaving most of the panel stunned at her response.

REID: Let me ask you a couple of quick questions Tracey. Is Donald Trump sent by God? That's what he says.

WINBUSH: All power is elevated by God.

REID: So you think he's sent by God?

WINBUSH: Everyone... if he's in power, he was sent there by God. I believe he was put by God...

REID: So God sent Donald Trump? So that means...

WINBUSH: I believe Donald Trump is in office because God allowed him to be there to give America a reprieve, so that they can reset and get back to normal.

REID: And Donald Trump has essentially said he is a king. Do you believe he is king?

WINBUSH: I think we all are in Christ Jesus.

Yep, it's a cult... a very, very dangerous one.

Can you help us out?

For nearly 20 years we have been exposing Washington lies and untangling media deceit, but now Facebook is drowning us in an ocean of right wing lies. Please give a one-time or recurring donation, or buy a year's subscription for an ad-free experience. Thank you.

Discussion

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service for information on our posting policy.
Mastodon