Trump – Opinions

No, the Constitution does not allow President Trump to pardon himself

Posted on August 24, 2021Updated: August 24, 2021

Jan. 17, Dale Carpenter, constitutional law professor at SMU Dallas Dedman School of Law, for a piece arguing that President Trump does not have the right to pardon himself. Published in the Washington Post section, Made By History with the heading No, the Constitution does not allow President Trump to pardon himself: http://wapo.st/39M3QGK

Now that the House of Representatives has impeached President Trump for a second time, this time on an allegation of inciting insurrection against the U.S. government, the potential consequences for his words and actions are becoming clearer. He might be convicted in the Senate and disqualified from holding future federal office. Aside from the Senate trial, he might also be tried in federal court on a range of charges related to the attack on the Capitol.

All of this once again raises the question: Can he pardon himself? He tweeted in 2018 that he had the right to do so, but does he?

Not according to the words, history or structure of the Constitution. In fact, such an action would erode foundational legal principles in our republican form of government. No person can be a judge in his own case. Nor is the president, unlike an absolute monarch, above the law.

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Trump ‘accountable?’ Easier said than done

Posted on August 24, 2021Updated: August 24, 2021

Jan. 12, James Hollifield, professor of political science and director of the Tower Center at SMU Dallas, along with co-author Donley Studlar, professor of political science emeritus at West Virginia University, for a piece outlining the complexities and difficulties of removing President Donald Trump from the White House before the Jan. 20 Inauguration. Published in The Hill under the heading Trump ‘accountable?’ Easier said than done: http://bit.ly/3ij54xr

In the current controversy over President Trump’s challenge to the Electoral College vote and the attack on the U.S. Capitol, we hear a lot about accountability. But what does this mean in the context of U.S. political institutions that divide authority among three branches of government, and how can Congress hold the president accountable?

Many observers, foreign and domestic, often are confused about the lines of authority in American government. In parliamentary systems, the direction is clearer. The elected legislature chooses the political executive, led by the prime minister and the legislature and parliament can remove the executive, either informally through internal party checks or formally through a majority vote of no confidence. The reasons for the removal of the government may be legal, including corruption, incompetence or simply policy differences. If a successful vote of no confidence occurs, the government steps down, to be replaced, perhaps after a caretaker government, through a general election or legislative (intra- or inter-party) negotiations.

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10 steps toward better presidential debating

Posted on August 12, 2021Updated: August 12, 2021

Oct. 19, Ben Voth, associate professor and director of debate and speech in the Dedman College of SMU Dallas, for a piece outlining 10 steps organizers should take to improve presidential debates. Published in The Hill with the heading 10 steps toward better presidential debating: https://bit.ly/35duhDf

Presidential debates exist as a televised tradition since 1960 in the United States, but the Commission on Presidential debates (CPD) presented this year is horribly flawed and must be re-imagined. Moderators have evolved to be the center of attention rather than the candidates — who seize on the opportunity to deliver propaganda rather than defend the policy. Our drift to “town hall” formats is an unfulfilling and unrevealing substitute for true debate.

The debate scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 22, is likely to be the final presidential debate of the 2020 election season — this despite talk of a possible make-up debate for the missed Oct. 15 debate.

Since the CPD took over the League of Women Voters’ debates in 1987, viewership averages over 60 million. By comparison, the Super Bowl gets 100 million, political conventions get 10-20 million, popular TV shows get 5 million, and even vice-presidential debates like the one between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden in 2008 can attract more than 70 million.

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Evangelicals Can’t Bridge Racial Divides With Reconciliation Overtures Alone

Posted on August 14, 2020Updated: August 14, 2020

June 5, Professor Stephanie Martin, an assistant professor of communication and public affairs at SMU Dallas, for a piece pointing out that Christian Evangelicals must go beyond “reconciliation” if they want to close the racial divide with African American constituencies. Published in Inside Sources and its affiliates. https://bit.ly/3gR5Lgd https://bit.ly/3cMtsTB

Evangelical leaders hesitated to criticize President Trump after he ordered police and military authorities to use tear gas and rubber bullets to remove peaceful protesters from Lafayette Park near the White House so he could get his picture taken in front of nearby St. John’s Episcopal Church.

Trump’s purpose in creating the photo op was not immediately clear, but it hardly seems a stretch to imagine it was a signal to his most ardent Christian supporters that they could count on him to restore law and order to America’s streets. . .

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Trump’s Mirror on Democracy

Posted on May 13, 2020Updated: May 13, 2020

Feb. 12, Rita Kirk, director of the Maguire Center for Ethics & Public Responsibility and professor in Corporate Communication & Public Affairs at SMU Dallas, for a piece analyzing the tendencies and paths of populists. She counts President Donald Trump among them. Published in The Hill: http://bit.ly/3bwK9mt

President Donald Trump is a populist. He draws his strength from those who are angry with the way our government is working and tired of the pablum offered in lieu of authentic answers to problems real people face. In that sense, he provides a great service to our republic. He holds a mirror to the politics-as-usual crowd and what is seen is not pretty.

When James Madison University professor Dr. Dan Schill and I conducted the CNN focus groups for the 2016 election, our very first observation was that voters were angry. Some were angry about medical coverage, others over military benefits, some over issues like abortion, still others over tax burdens. Anger united them. . .

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The danger of Nikki Haley and Rick Perry saying Trump’s presidency was ordained by God

Posted on March 16, 2020Updated: March 16, 2020

Dec. 20, Stephanie Martin, assistant professor of communication and public affairs at SMU Dallas, for a piece challenging Evangelical Christians to be more discerning , Today: http://bit.ly/2MfPdRr

When former Energy Secretary Rick Perry made headlines last month on Fox News for saying President Donald Trump is “the chosen one” who was “sent by God to do great things,” it wasn’t the first time someone argued that the commander in chief was commissioned on high.

Nor was it the last. Nikki Haley, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told the Christian CBN News that Trump’s election made plain “that everything happens for a reason … I think God sometimes places people for lessons and sometimes places people for change.”

The Perry and Haley TV interviews exposed the ongoing tension in American political culture between those who believe that divine purpose underwrites everything that happens in politics and those who see human agency at work. . .

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