In his United States Presidential election victory speech in the early morning of Nov. 9, 2016, Donald Trump said, “For those who have chosen not to support me in the past, of which there were a few people. . .I’m reaching out to you for your guidance and your help so that we can work together and unify our great country.”
Let’s see. Since that night, Donald Trump has tweeted attacks on:
- 17 intelligence agencies of the United States government including the CIA regarding the conclusions they reached about Russian hacking that affected the United States Presidential and Senatorial and Congressional elections.
- American actress Meryl Streep, accepting the Cecil B. DeMille Award for Lifetime Achievement, for pointing out things about people who are not American, the press, and actors/actresses, describing them as the most vilified members of American society in her acceptance speech at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association awards in January 2017.
- John Lewis, a United States Representative from the House who, among other things, participated in the march at Selma, Alabama, in 1965, and barely survived being beaten by law enforcement officers. It’s worth pointing out that in 1965, Donald Trump sought and received deferment from participation in the Vietnam War.
- The Cable News Network (CNN), specifically reporter Jim Acosta, calling the network “fake news,” although the only thing that CNN reported was that the President-Elect and the current Vice President and the current President were briefed by leaders of the major intelligence agencies regarding possible Russian hacking that may have affected the elections in the United States held on November 8, 2016.
- The United Nations, calling it a “club for people to get together, talk and have a good time.”
This is a short, not exhaustive, list.
First, let’s remember the First Amendment to the US Constitution:
It states, regarding the freedom of speech: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
Trump has said that he would like to alter the First Amendment so that it would be easier for him to sue press organizations. This is not encouraging. He warned during the campaign that he would “open up” libel laws to make it easier for him to sue news organizations if he was elected president. Well now that has come to pass. We shall see how he seeks to adjust libel laws.
Trump’s attacks on people and organizations that have done nothing more than exercise their First Amendment rights are startling, and very troubling. If he seriously wanted to promote unity among diverse groups of Americans, and if he were, in his words, “reaching out to you for your guidance and your help so that we can work together and unify our great country,” then he would not attack and insult people who express opinions and beliefs that don’t align with his opinions and beliefs.
He would instead try to win them over to see things his way. And he would seek their guidance and help, again, to use his words.
Attacking and insulting anyone for their opinions that differ from yours is definitely not a method that will help you, or Trump, “win over” people who disagree with you. Attacking and insulting people will not help Trump “unify our great country.”