OPINION: Republican hypocrisy doesn’t pardon Trump for his crimes
Opposing hypocrisy is the bedrock of partisanship. So, when I campaigned for Trump in 2016, that’s why I believed that Hillary Clinton’s email scandal was a big deal, so much so that I supported the Republican Party for making it a talking point for the GOP’s platform.
Only after emerging from that haze of hysteria, to see the same people who were outraged at Hillary defending Trump for what was explained in the affidavit is Hypocrisy 101.
But GOP hypocrisy is yet another distraction.
I know that I sound like a broken record when I say this, but at one time, I really did believe that the Republican Party, conservative commentators, and pundits actually cared about the Constitution and the rule of law, whether you call it a Democracy or the Constitutional Republic.
Being disappointed by the right politicizing the Constitution and institutions protecting and upholding the rule of law is an understatement of how I feel. Nowhere in their oath of office does it say only to defend the Constitution when a Democrat violates it. The GOP hypocrisy is not even the worst part of it all.
We have Republicans in office like Senators Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) inciting violence, claiming that Trump supporters will riot if Trump is indicted.
Not once did Hillary Clinton or any Democrat for that matter incite any kind of violence, but the Republican Party felt that painting her as a national security threat would win them the election, and, well, we know how that all played out, unfortunately.
When Al Gore had the ceremonial duty to count the votes that ended his Democratic bid for the presidency and elevated his opponent, he didn’t cheat, nor did he call for violence.
He just did his job.
Forty years before that, Richard Nixon did the exact same thing.
Both ended contested elections the American way.
Trump continues to incite, continues to play the victim card, and Republicans continue to stand by him, turning their backs on their oaths of office. There is nothing principled about the mess that is today’s Republican Party, and they continue to prove that when it comes to facing their own accountability or lack thereof.
As Mahatma Gandhi once said, “It is wrong and immoral to seek to escape the consequences of one’s acts.”
Trump has done this his whole life, and it’s time he paid the price for his sins.
Again, I may sound like a broken record, but if no one is above the law, the DOJ, where GOP hypocrisy has no influence, needs to step it up and arrest him for his crimes.
David M. Weissman is a former Republican who has seen the light.
You can follow him on Twitter here.
This is an opinion column that solely reflects the opinions of the author.
