Nader shared his thoughts earlier today during an interview with Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman.
Following is part of what he said.
It’s important to say that all presidents violate laws. [Trump has] just taken it to a new and diverse height. But he’s doing it so brazenly that if he gets away with it, he will continue to contribute to the institutionalization of lawlessness by presidents of the United States.
Let’s face it: Bush, Obama and Trump have violated all kinds of laws in extending the [American] empire. Obama, for example, decreed, informally, that he could pick out anybody in the world and, as prosecutor, judge, jury, executioner, and in secret, wipe that person out. And he did it. Of course, Bush was the big war criminal, with Cheney, invading Iraq. But then Obama took out the regime in Libya without a congressional debate, without a congressional authorization, appropriation of funds or declaration of war. And that’s, to this day, producing chaos and violence, goaded by Secretary of State [Hillary] Clinton, who pushed Obama to do this, and he later admitted it was the biggest mistake of his administration.
. . . [With Trump] we have all kinds of other tax violations, obstruction of voting, campaign finance violations, never mind his assault and battery of women, which he seemed to be proud of. So [his arraignment] yesterday represents the first turnaround. Why did the Democrats wait so long? They had twelve impeachable offenses in 2019. We’ve got them in the Congressional Record, December 19th; Congressman John Larson put them in. Nancy Pelosi just went with the Ukraine matter. . . . So you had one party letting the other party get away with it, in part because the Democrats also violated laws at the presidential level.
So I think the American people have got to see this as an opportunity, a gateway, to reverse the process where presidents are above the law. They have been above the law. People around the world have suffered and died because these presidents have been above the law. So, we have to broaden it out, because what the GOP is going to try to do is focus on yesterday and [Attorney] Alvin Bragg’s prosecution [of Trump], when the criminal lawlessness of Trump is massive.
For Democracy Now!’s complete interview with Ralph Nader, click here.
Related Off-site Links:
“Now Do Bush”: Trump Arraignment Contrasts Typical Impunity for U.S. Leaders – Jessica Corbett (Common Dreams, April 4, 2023).
Donald Trump Charged with 34 Felonies; He Intensifies Attacks on Judge, DA and Their Families – Democracy Now! (April 5, 2023).
UPDATE: Trump Finally Facing Accountability for Some of His Most Brazen Violations of the Law – Ralph Nader (Common Dreams, April 9, 2023).
See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Ellen Yaroshefsky: Quote of the Day – April 4, 2023
• Chauncey Devega on the Ongoing Danger of the Trump Cult
• Historian Nancy MacLean: The Threat to American Democracy Is at “Red-Alert”
• William D. Lindsey: Quote of the Day – August 12, 2022
• “How Can One Overreact to a Mortal Threat to American Democracy?”
• Insurrection at the United States Capitol
• Donald Trump’s Open and Shameless Criminality
• Progressive Perspectives on Corruption in U.S. Politics
For more of Ralph Nader at The Wild Reed, see:
• Hope Over Fear
• Ralph Nader: Quote of the Day – January 20, 2022
• Ralph Nader: Quote of the Day – December 5, 2016
• Across America, “the Giant Is Awake”
Image: Ralph Nader, pictured in 2014. (Photograph: Getty Images)
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