The Overthinker's Journal

Remember when Republicans said the Constitution wasn’t optional? I do. They told us that Supreme Court justices had to be Originalists, because the Constitution wasn’t just important. It was sacred.

Now, suddenly, the Constitution is yet another standard that’s fallen by the wayside in the quest for power. On Meet the Press, Kristen Welker asked Trump if non-citizens deserve due process.

TRUMP: I don’t know. I’m not, I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know.

WELKER: Well, the Fifth Amendment says as much.

TRUMP: I don’t know. It seems — it might say that, but if you’re talking about that, then we’d have to have a million or 2 million or 3 million trials. We have thousands of people that are some murderers and some drug dealers and some of the worst people on Earth. Some of the worst, most dangerous people on Earth. And I was elected to get them the hell out of here and the courts are holding me from doing it.

WELKER: But even given those numbers that you’re talking about, don’t you need to uphold the Constitution of the United States as president?

TRUMP: I don’t know. I have to respond by saying, again, I have brilliant lawyers that work for me, and they are going to obviously follow what the Supreme Court said. What you said is not what I heard the Supreme Court said. They have a different interpretation.

How many times did he say “I don’t know”? He swore an oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. The Fifth Amendment is quite clear.

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

And the Fourteenth Amendment applies the same principles to the states:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

There is no asterisk in the Constitution that says:

• Except when it’s inconvenient to the president.
• Except when the trial docket is too full.
• Except when the accused is a gang member.

It says NO PERSON. And that means every person is entitled to equal protection under the law.

This is the part some people need to understand: If you take away due process for any one person, you’ve taken it away for every person.

If the argument is that we can’t have a trial for Kilmar Abrego Garcia because he’s supposedly a member of a gang and we need to just get rid of him, then what’s to stop them from saying you’re in a gang and we need to deport you?

The only way for you to refute that is by utilizing your right to due process.

I wonder if some people are getting confused by the fancy lawyer speak of “due process”? Let me put it another way. We believe in the concept of innocent until proven guilty. But without due process, there’s no proving going on. It’s just innocent until declared guilty.

That’s not the America I grew up in. That’s not the justice I believe in. We aren’t some banana republic where the dictator decides to eliminate someone out of convenience.

We are the land of the free and home of the brave.

The oath of office doesn’t say “defend the Constitution when it’s easy.” It says defend it. Period.

Republicans: if you stand silent while due process is shredded for anyone, don’t pretend you’re defending it for anyone. This is not bravery. This is cowardice in the face of a would-be tyrant