The following article by Noah Bierman was posted on the Los Angeles Times website February 5, 2018:
Trump likens the reaction of Democrats during State of the Union to “treason,” says it’s “un-American.” (via ABC)
President Trump called Democrats who failed to clap for his State of the Union address last week “un-American.”
Then, somewhat flippantly, he threw out another loaded charge: “Someone said ‘treasonous.’ I guess, why not? Can we call that treason? Why not?”
Trump’s remarks came during a free-wheeling, highly partisan speech he gave at a factory in Cincinnati on Monday. The speech was billed as official government business, meaning taxpayers footed Trump’s expenses rather than the Republican Party, which is supposed to cover costs when the president is on political business.
The White House insisted the event was not political, even as Trump traveled with Rep. Jim Renacci aboard Air Force One. Renacci, a Republican whose Akron-based district is across the state from Cincinnati, is vying to challenge Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in 2018.
“This isn’t a political event,” Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah told reporters aboard Air Force One. “The president is there to talk about the tax cut bill that Congressman Renacci and many other Republicans in the House and Senate voted for.”
This is not the first time that Trump has used the word treason against a perceived political enemy. In an interview last month with the Wall Street Journal, Trump accused a pair of FBI agents, Peter Strzok, once the bureau’s second-ranking counter-intelligence official, and Lisa Page, of treason.
“That is treason,” Trump said. “See, that’s treason right there.”
The U.S. Constitution specifically defines treason — the only crime for which the document provides a definition: “Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.”
Strzok and Page, in the midst of an extramartial affair, shared text messages during the presidential campaign making disparaging remarks about Trump’s fitness for office.
Both agents served briefly on special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation into potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian meddling in the presidential election.
The texts were later made public.
View the post here.