His backers say the president was just joking, but detractors point to his history of casting doubt on the legitimacy of elections and constitutional norms as reason for concern.
By Ashley Parker Ashley Parker White House reporter Email Bio Follow May 6 at 9:18 PM President Trump for months has griped, complained and tweeted about what he says is the unfair Russia “witch hunt” investigation that has consumed nearly half of his presidency.Trump over the weekend shared a tweet by Jerry Falwell Jr.
“Everything that he says is a trial balloon — even his, quote, jokes are trial balloons,” said Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a New York University professor who studies authoritarian rulers. “But if you look at what he jokes about, it’s always things like this — it’s the extension of his rights, it’s the infringement of liberties. And authoritarians are continually testing the boundaries to see what they can get away with, and everything he does is a challenge to Democrats to mount some response against him.
Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton speak during the final presidential debate in Las Vegas on Oct. 19, 2016. Sen. John Cornyn suggested that the tweet should be viewed as an example of Trump’s understated wit, but also that it reflects a president deeply exasperated by how the Russian investigation has clouded his presidency.
More broadly, the idea that the special counsel investigation resulted in two “stolen” years of Trump’s presidency has already become a reelection argument for Trump and his allies. White House spokesman Hogan Gidley also responded, saying, “How hilariously ironic that it’s the Democrats who refuse to accept the results of a free and fair presidential election in 2016, refuse to accept the clear results of a nearly 400-page report that showed no collusion and no obstruction, but now, they have the audacity to question the president ‘accepting results?’ — give me a break.”
At the time, Trump’s rhetoric prompted some of his supporters to speak of revolution, calling for a “coup” and “bloodshed,” and saying if she won, Clinton should be removed from office “by any means necessary.”
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