Kevin McCarthy’s call to have the Constitution read in the first day of the next term’s opening session of Congress is a study in hypocrisy and irony unlike anything we’ve even recently heard.
On the very first day of the new Republican-led Congress, we will read every single word of the Constitution aloud from the floor of the House—something that hasn't been done in years.
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) November 25, 2022
Let’s just call it what it is: a PR stunt to make it look like the Republican Party is honoring our Constitution. Sorry, no sale.
McCarthy’s planned stunt must be now compared to this: The Republican Party’s blaring silence in the face of Trump’s call for the overthrow of that same Constitution.
As CNN and other outlets reported,
Former President Donald Trump called for the termination of the Constitution to overturn the 2020 election and reinstate him to power Saturday in a continuation of his election denialism and pushing of fringe conspiracy theories.
“Do you throw the Presidential Election Results of 2020 OUT and declare the RIGHTFUL WINNER, or do you have a NEW ELECTION? A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution,” Trump wrote in a post on the social network Truth Social and accused “Big Tech” of working closely with Democrats. “Our great ‘Founders’ did not want, and would not condone, False & Fraudulent Elections!”
The Republican response to this insanity has been exactly nada, zip, zero, bupkis. And this silence loudly says one thing and one thing only: the party is in agreement.
Meanwhile also on December 2nd, President Biden posted on Twitter in response to Trump’s dinner with Ye and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes:
I just want to make a few things clear:
The Holocaust happened.
Hitler was a demonic figure.
And instead of giving it a platform, our political leaders should be calling out and rejecting antisemitism wherever it hides.
Silence is complicity.
— President Biden (@POTUS) December 2, 2022
His last sentence says it all, “Silence is complicity.” Silence is not just tacit agreement. Complicity is defined as “the state of being involved with others in an illegal activity or wrongdoing.” So by not speaking out and acting in accordance with each and every member’s oath of office, the Republican Party is taking the position of an accessory to Trump’s call to make him a dictator.
As a reminder, the oath of office sworn by every Member of Congress is:
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.
Thus, by their silence each silent member of the Republican Party is in direct violation of that oath and contributing to Trump’s attack on the Constitution. If your reaction in reading this is something along the lines of, “That’s nuts,” go to the head of the class.
We err if we look at the Republican Party, or any party for that matter, as an singular entity. It is a group composed of individuals—though it can take on a life of its own. The characteristics of a group’s “life” are defined by the behaviors of the majority of its members. And in this case of Trump’s renewed call for a coup, a majority of the Republican Party is fine with it.
Let’s say it again with gusto: “Members of the Republican Party who are silent in the face of Trump’s call to overthrow the Constitution are in direct violation of their oath of office.” They are a party to his insanity, and as the President said, complicit.
Frankly, this should be the end to the Party as a viable group. One has to wonder why it still exists at all since it has abdicated its agreement with the very basis of its authority, which is derived from the consent of the people—who grant said authority based on, that’s right, The Constitution.
Marty Kassowitz
Marty Kassowitz is co-founder of Factkeepers. As founder of Interest Factory and View360, he brings more than 30 years experience in effective online communications, social media management, and platform development to the site. He is a writer, designer, editor and long time observer of the ill-logic demonstrated by too many members of the species known as Mankind. After a long history of somewhat private commentary on a subject he totally hates: politics, Marty was encouraged to build this site and put up his own analyses as well as curate relevant content from other sources.
