Trump Continues to Ignore the March for Our Lives and Its Calls for Change
LatestMore than 800,000 people flooded the streets of the nation’s capital on Saturday to demand action on gun reform and to reduce gun violence in the country. Hundreds of thousands rallied in other cities across the U.S. and the world. But you wouldn’t know it from the president’s response on Twitter.
The Associated Press called the extraordinary March for Our Lives “the largest youth-led protests since the Vietnam War era.” And even the Pope weighed in during his Palm Sunday sermon, urging the student–led movement to push forward with its efforts. “The temptation to silence young people has always existed,” Pope Francis said.
But despite speech after speech and hours of moving testimony from young victims of gun violence, President Trump is choosing to remain silent. As the rally unfolded, with crowds stretching into the distance as far as the eye could see, the president spent his day Saturday at his Florida golf club. After he golfed, his motorcade took a detour to avoid protesters on the way back to his Mar-a-Lago estate.
On Sunday, Trump tweeted about France, Greek Independence Day, and his legal troubles in the Russia probe. But as of this writing, he hasn’t said a word on Twitter about guns, or the young people demanding change and inspiring a nation into action.
Perhaps he is nervous about Anderson Cooper’s upcoming interview with porn star Stormy Daniels, which will air on CBS’ 60 Minutes on Sunday evening. Or maybe he’s concerned that no one seems to want to take him on as a client after his lead attorney on the Russia probe, John Dowd, abruptly resigned on Thursday.
In his typical Sunday–morning tweets, Trump claimed that “many lawyers and top law firms want to represent me in the Russia case.” He added: “Problem is that a new……lawyer or law firm will take months to get up to speed (if for no other reason than they can bill more), which is unfair to our great country – and I am very happy with my existing team. Besides, there was NO COLLUSION with Russia, except by Crooked Hillary and the Dems!”
It’s amusing (or rather, SAD!) that Trump would cite a concern about his constituents footing the bill for his legal woes, considering that his golf outings alone have cost taxpayers nearly $60 million.
Also, the claim that “many lawyers” want to represent him seems to be yet another of his blatant lies, in which to get to the truth, all one must do is believe the exact opposite of what Trump says. For example, with the news of Dowd’s resignation came additional details that at least four well–known defense attorneys at large law firms, including Ted Olsen and Emmett Flood, turned the president down after being approached.
We simply can’t take this president seriously at anything he says, and that includes the gun debate. The president has chosen to sit this one out, and that’s fine—he had nothing useful to say anyway. So, let him stay at Mar-a-Lago and watch TV while the kids run the show. The world will probably be safer for it.