No, Donald Trump, we won’t “take it easy”

| 3:15 pm EDT July 2, 2018
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Donald Trump says we’d better just take it easy when it comes to our criticism and protest of his immoral and criminal actions. No really, he said that, in exact words: “they better just take it easy.” This is all he’s got left? Threatening our First Amendment rights to peaceful protest? Wow – this guy has become even more frantically desperate than I thought.

For context, here’s the full quote which Donald Trump gave to Maria Bartiromo of Fox Business over the weekend: “I hope the other side realizes that they better just take it easy. They better just take it easy because some of the languages, some of the words you — even some of the radical ideas, I really think they’re very bad for the country.” First of all, we have no idea what “radical ideas” he’s talking about. He’s clearly trying to falsely imply that those who oppose him are somehow plotting something radical against him.

Second of all, Trump appears to be trying to crack down on what language we’re allowed to use while criticizing him. Wow. This guy is the President of the United States. Well not legitimately, of course, as he illegally conspired with Russia to rig the election in his favor. But he nonetheless holds the office of President, and he wields the power that comes with it. We’re trying to recall another instance in which the President of the United States suggested that the public was no longer allowed to criticize him.

Last week Donald Trump has falsely accused Congresswoman Maxine Waters of calling for violence against his advisers. As a result, Waters says she’s received credible death threats from Trump’s supporters. Yet even as Trump is playing this dangerous game, he appears to be trying to scare the rest of us out of exercising our right to criticize his abominable and often criminal actions. If anything, the only proper response to this is to get even louder with our criticism of him.