Letters: Trump unequivocally puts himself above the Constitution

"When a president says his authority is limited only by his own morality, the Constitution has already been violated. The oath of office binds the president to law, not conscience, not instinct, not personal judgment. Claiming otherwise is a declaration that constitutional limits are optional. This is not rhetoric. It is an imminent danger. A president who believes only he restrains himself is asserting personal sovereignty. That is the definition of autocracy."

"The statements coming from Donald Trump, J.D. Vance and Kristi Noem following the tragic death of Renee Good show them to be cruel, sick, depraved individuals. To think that this mother of three, with no apparent history of violence, who had just dropped off her 6-year-old at school, would suddenly throw her life away by running down an ICE agent is patently absurd."

A president asserting that his authority is limited only by his personal morality places himself above the Constitution and repudiates the oath to uphold the law. The oath binds the president to law rather than to conscience, instinct, or personal judgment. Such a claim converts constitutional restraints into optional rules and creates immediate risk of autocratic rule, undermining courts, statutes, and congressional checks. Public statements by national figures about the death of Renee Good dehumanize the victim and portray a peaceful protester as violently culpable. The described encounter suggests fear and chaotic escalation rather than intentional lethal violence by the woman.

Read at www.mercurynews.com