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I never thought I would ever see the day when there would be enough American voters to elect someone running for the presidency on a promise he will be a mortal enemy of the Constitution. But that's precisely what could happen in our next presidential election. On Inauguration Day on January 20, 2025, the Republic of the United States could well become the Republican Party of MAGA, and the Constitution of the United States, Trump's governing game-plan, "The Heritage Foundation's Project 2025: The Mandate for Leadership, A Conservative Promise."
On Monday, January 20, 2025, Donald J. Trump may well be the President-elect who will take the oath of office on the West Front of the United States Capitol. Before our country and the world, with his hand on the Bible, Donald Trump may be the one who publicly proclaims himself bound before God to the sacred duties of the oath of office taken by George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and now by him, the about-to-be sworn-in 47th President of these United States:
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. SO HELP ME GOD."
Will Donald J. Trump's oath be not only a lie, but also a blasphemy, because it is a false oath solemnly made to God? Will those responsible for his election be complicit in this potential blasphemy?
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the land. It defines how our government is set up. It defines the powers of each branch of government. It establishes the rule of law within our country. The rule of law under the Constitution means that EVERYONE, all individuals, groups and institutions are subject to and accountable under the Constitution and all other constitutionally emacted laws. No one should be above the law, including—no, especially—the President of the United States.
The Constitution of the United States requires a President to: 1) execute, abide by and ensure the enforcement of laws passed by Congress. 2) act within legal boundaries with oversight from Congress; 3) avoid attempting to make or unilaterally interpret laws; 4) obey the decisions of the judiciary on the constitutionality of his official actions and claims of executive privilege; 5) abide by any Congressional over-rides of his presidential vetoes; 6) obtain Senate approval of specified key presidential appointments.
However, former President Donald Trump and his 2024 campaign have made it abundantly clear that HE WILL NOT LIVE UP TO THE PRESIDENTIAL REQUIREMENTS OF CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. Forget about "all enemies, foreign and domestic." He himself has clearly indicated publicly that he believes he is completely at liberty to dispense with the presidential provisions of the Constitution and is ready to swear to God that he will do so.
So for example, on January 6, 2019, Trump asserted that Article 2 of the Constitution gave him the right to do anything he wanted as President of the United States.
In a White House Press briefing on April 13, 2020, then-President Donald Trump stated, "When somebody's the president of the United States, the authority is total. And that is the way it's gonna be."
In a Truth Social Message on January 18, 2024,, Trump claimed that a President of the United States must have complete and total presidential immunity.
In a court hearing on January 9, 2024, former President Trump's lawyer asserted that if a president directed a Navy SEAL Team Six to assassinate a political opponent, it would be an action barred from prosecution because of the broad immunity granted presidents.
So there you have it: An oath of office sworn to God that solemnly calls on the President to protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies and a President who says he will jettison and betray it himself by doing whatever he wants to…with impunity. Our founding documents--the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights--commit us to being a Constitutional Republic by establishing a system based on democratic principles, separation of powers, rule of law, and protection of individual rights. Trump pledges to abandon them in one fell swoop.
Blasphemy is not a crime. It is protected by the First Amendment's freedom of speech clause. But to a people who claim in our Pledge of Allegiance that we are "One nation UNDER GOD," and whose presidents since George Washington have ended their oaths of office with "So Help me God," blasphemy appears to be, to say the least, a bit two-faced.
Either candidate Trump lied when he made public promises like those above to break the Constitution or he will lie and commit blasphemy when he takes the oath of office Inauguration Day, on January 20, 2024 before God and Country.
In the past, when faced with such a blatant contradiction between promises to live up to our most precious values and actions that are unfaithful to our sworn word, I used to think: "We're better than that." I don't do so automatically anymore. Instead I think: "We may not be better that that." And I think so because, for the first time in my life, I think there may be a majority of voters in this country, who despite their previous attestations of loyalty to the Constitution, are ready to throw it away by electing Donald Trump to the Presidency. In the day, taking the Lord Thy God's name used to be a violation of one of the Ten Commandments. People often used the word "sin" to describe it. But that was then…a time when what someone did, did not have to be a crime to be wrong.
Pray God we are not there. MAGA enthusiasts assure we're not. All's well, they tell us. But lies fit on a bumper sticker, while the whole truth never fits. The first three words of the Constitution "We the People" have not changed. But maybe, we the people have--for the worse. This November, we the people, many of us declaring ourselves "Patriots," could end up electing a President who has given us advance notice that he will go rogue on his promise to God to protect and defend the Constitution and effectively bury our country's experiment with democracy. We'll know for sure Tuesday, November 5, 2024. That's when we'll find out if we will continue to be one of the oldest democracies in the world, or have just become just the world's newest autocracy.
Tim Mannello is a retired hospital system executive and business consultant.