Trump and McConnell Play Dangerous Games With Democracy
FRED WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE | MAY 16, 2019
“Trump and McConnell will bear the ultimate responsibility for any foreign interference in the 2020 elections and for the damage that it would do to our democracy.”
President Trump has shown no interest in preventing Russia (or any other country) from invading the 2020 presidential election as Russia did in the 2016 election.
The Mueller report has made it incontrovertibly clear that agents of the Russian government hacked computers, distributed divisive information, and ran disinformation ads in our country in order to undermine our democracy and disrupt the presidential election – with a goal of helping Trump’s campaign and damaging Hillary Clinton’s.
President Trump, however, acts as if nothing ever happened and by doing so has invited not only Russia but any other foreign country to attack our future elections.
Government agencies may be taking some steps to prevent this from happening, but the American people have no knowledge of what they are doing, or of any White House plan to protect our country.
This pathetic performance by President Trump is not only a dereliction of his presidential duties but also a failure “to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States,” as he swore to do in taking his oath of office.
H.R. 1, the For The People Act, passed by the House earlier this year, included a section to provide election security for future elections. This included authorizing $1 billion for a grant program for state and local election officials to strengthen the security of their elections.
These election security provisions have now been introduced in the House as a separate measure by Reps. Benny Thompson (D-MS), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), and John Sarbanes (D-MD). This critically important legislation is expected to be voted on by the House after it returns from the Memorial Day recess.
Senate Majority Leader McConnell, however, is saying he will not allow any new election security measures to reach the Senate floor. Like President Trump, McConnell is inviting foreign governments to invade our elections.
Trump and McConnell are playing a dangerous game with the legitimacy of our elections and the integrity of our democracy. It’s reminiscent of how former Senator Bob Dole once joked about President Nixon: “Look! See no evil, hear no evil, and evil.”
Trump and McConnell will bear the ultimate responsibility for any foreign interference in the 2020 elections and for the damage that it would do to our democracy.
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Fred Wertheimer is the Founder and President of Democracy 21, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to strengthen our democracy and ensure the integrity and fairness of government decisions and elections. See previous Notes from Fred here.
