Trump's slap at Twitter shows his use of power for personal whims

[Judi Lynn]

Stephen Collinson Profile
Analysis by Stephen Collinson, CNN

Updated 1:35 AM ET, Fri May 29, 2020

(CNN)Donald Trump was impeached for using presidential power to influence an election. It's now clear that his acquittal in a Senate trial only encouraged him to use that authority to service personal whims in a pattern that becomes more pronounced the longer he is in office.

Two days after Twitter appended a fact check to one of his misleading tweets, the President Thursday all but threatened to close the company in an affront to the freedom of speech. His power play revealed one of his many preoccupations a day after the US death toll from the coronavirus pandemic, a disaster unfolding on his watch, passed 100,000.

"If it were legal, if it could be legally shut down, I would do it," Trump said, as he signed an executive order targeting tech giants he accuses of censoring conservative messaging. "I think you shut it down as far as I'm concerned," he said.

The President's move was the latest example of a quickening trend in which he deploys the machinery of government to address personal affronts and to advance a personal agenda rather than a more conventional view of the national interest. In recent weeks, Trump has conducted a purge against watchdog officials inside government agencies known as inspectors general, including several caught up in the impeachment drama.

More:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/29/politics/donald-trump-twitter-power-personal-whims/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_latest+%28RSS%3A+CNN+-+Most+Recent%29

[sandensea]

1. The closest thing the U.S. has ever had to a 3rd world dictator - even more so than Bush.

And you know the worst part, Judi? The GOP is bound to find - and possibly even elect (or install) someone even worse in the not-too distant future.

God help us all.

[Arkansas Granny]

2. And Republicans in Congress sit back silently.