After President Donald Trump’s much anticipated meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on Monday, US media and leaders of the Democrat Party have declared President Trump a traitor. Democrats claim President Trump conspired with Moscow to win the Presidency and he will now bend to the will of Putin in order to pay back that debt. But is there any evidence to back up the accusations of treason?
Democrats Say…
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has publicly claimed that President Putin and Russian intelligence must have dirt on President Trump. The Minority Leader tweeted, “Just several days ago, 12 Russians were indicted for attacking our democracy.
Today, America’s so-called leader embarrassingly failed to stand up to the person who spearheaded the attack.
Seriously, what does Putin have on Trump that’s he’s so afraid?”
She went on to turn to the midterm elections, encouraging followers not to vote for Republican candidates, “If Donald Trump failed to stand up to Putin in front of the press, what makes you think Kevin McCarthy, Mitch McConnell and Republicans in Washington will defend us from a foreign adversary’s attack? They’ve done nothing. It’s on us to vote out the sell-outs.”
Pelosi later said, “President Trump’s weakness in front of Putin was embarrassing, and proves that the Russians have something on the President, personally, financially or politically.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer echoed these claims, saying, “What could possibly cause President Trump to put the interests of Russia over those of the United States? Millions of Americans will continue to wonder if the only possible explanation for this dangerous behavior is the possibility that President Putin holds damaging information over President Trump.”
The seemingly coordinated comments accusing the American President of succumbing to blackmail, may sound like #resistance to their staunchest Democrat supporters, but to any thinking person, it sounds more like a conspiracy theory.
Neither Schumer nor Pelosi presented any evidence that Putin is blackmailing Trump. Despite the investigation into Russian interference so far failing to tie Trump to Moscow, Democrats continue to act as though President Trump is guilty until proven innocent. One has to wonder what is happening behind closed doors at the DNC if the leaders of the second most powerful political party in the United States have turned to peddling conspiracy theories with less than four months until the most important elections this side of 2020.
Is Trump Committing a Treason?
Although the Democratic Party insists they lost the 2016 presidential election because of Russian interference, many Conservative figures point out that Trump has hardly been pro-Russia throughout his presidency.
After Moscow was blamed for the poisoning of former KGB double agent Sergei Skripal, the Trump administration closed the Russian consulate in Seattle and expelled 60 Russian diplomats. In April, President Trump’s administration imposed fresh sanctions on Russian oligarchs, including members of Putin’s inner circle. Putin’s own son-in-law, Kirill Shamalov, was among the members of Russia’s mega-wealthy elite who were sanctioned.
While the results of Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation are yet unclear, attempting to create peace between two economic and military powerhouses is hardly enough to accuse the President of treason. Holding meetings with foreign leaders is in the job description, not a crime which can technically still be punished by death.
Why is Peace with Russia Bad?
Senator Schumer’s accusations that President Trump put Russia’s interests before those of the American people, have led many to ask why peace between two of the world’s superpowers is only in Russia’s best interest.
Democratic leaders claim to be against the meeting between President Trump and President Putin because they insist Trump conspired with Russia to win the 2016 election. They also claim that Moscow hacked into the DNC server and released emails via WikiLeaks that were damaging to Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid. According to the leaders of the Democratic Party, President Trump’s meeting with Putin basically saw the US President kowtow to the man who helped him gain power. But will the American voter see if that way?
There is one sector of the economy that would suffer from peace with Russia. As military tensions escalate, the military industrial complex in the US profits. Although this fact has certainly been seized upon by internet conspiracy theorists, and is therefore easily ridiculed, the salience of the basic laws of economics in this situation are hardly diminished.
Will This Hurt Democrats?
In years gone by, Democrats painted themselves as the peace loving party opposed to Republican war hawks. But after President Obama managed to authorize 540 drone strikes, killing 3,797, including an estimated 324 civilians, the Democrats have struggled to hold onto their image. Now, after mocking the summit with North Korea and rejecting better relations with Russia, the most nuclear armed country in the world, the Democrat’s reputation as champions for peace may be kaput.
Beyond that, Democratic leaders are now openly accusing the sitting US President of treason with little to no evidence. The entire US legal system is based on the concept of presumed innocence until proven guilty. No doubt many Americans will see the obvious danger in leveling these kinds of unfounded accusations.
The accusations themselves are hardly based in reality. Suggestions from Democrat leaders that there might be dirt on the sitting US President is meant only to stir up hysteria ahead of the midterm elections. Currently, Congress and the Presidency are in the hands of the Republican Party. Democratic leaders hope to reclaim Congress and block any of President Trump’s future judicial nominees. While the Democrats accuse President Trump of having sinister ulterior motives, they assume the American public is not smart enough to observe the tactics of the Democratic Party.
Can they continue to reject peace just because they didn’t vote for the man who made it? Democrats are predicting a “blue wave” in the midterm elections, but this might be overly optimistic. Come November 2018, Democrats will see whether their tactics have paid off.
