Last Updated on January 3, 2023, 3:56 PM | Published: December 6, 2022
On Jan. 20, 2017, then-President Donald Trump took the oath of office and somehow avoided bursting into flames.
“I do solemnly swear 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,” Trump said as U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts led him through the oath.
Like so many times before and since, Trump was lying. He admitted it on Dec. 3 on Truth Social.
“Do you throw the Presidential Election Results of 2020 OUT and declare the RIGHTFUL WINNER, or do you have a NEW ELECTION?” Trump wrote. “A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution. Our great ‘Founders’ did not want, and would not condone, False & Fraudulent Elections!”
Republished in partnership with Oklahoma Voice under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Oklahoma Voice is a part of States Newsroom which is a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions: [email protected]. Follow Oklahoma Voice on Facebook and Twitter.
The concepts of shame for Republicans and outrage for Democrats were essentially destroyed by the past seven years of Trump’s statements, actions and behavior.
Even so, the idea that a former president — and he is most assuredly a former president — supports trashing the U.S. Constitution to return himself to power was enough to require a statement from a White House Press Office that is clearly fatigued from responding to Trump’s imperial goals.
“You cannot only love America when you win,” said White House Spokesman Andrew Bates. “The American Constitution is a sacrosanct document that for over 200 years has guaranteed that freedom and the rule of law prevail in our great country. The Constitution brings the American people together – regardless of party – and elected leaders swear to uphold it. It’s the ultimate monument to all of the Americans who have given their lives to defeat self-serving despots that abused their power and trampled on fundamental rights.”
Trump’s clear dismissal of The Constitution could be considered a new low, but there is so much we still do not know about Trump’s criminality. I’m open to the idea that we still have not hit bottom with this guy.
I do have questions about Oklahoma’s congressional delegation.
Since Trump’s statement, none of Oklahoma’s Republican U.S. Representatives – Stephanie Bice, Kevin Hern, Tom Cole, Frank Lucas and Markwayne Mullin — nor U.S. Senators James Lankford and James Inhofe — have denounced Trump’s statement against the U.S. Constitution.
Each one of them have taken the following oath:
“I, [state your name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”
Because they each swore to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic,” and the leader of their political party has denounced the Constitution in an effort to return himself to the presidency, it is important now that we hear whether these individuals still stand by their oaths.
More than a few days have passed since Trump’s statement. The Oklahoma delegation’s silence on the future of this democracy is noted. Unless any of them publicly affirm their commitment to their oaths and to the Constitution, then their silence constitutes a tacit approval of Trump’s anti-American, anti-democracy stance with regard to that document.
If that silence is not broken, then Oklahoma is fully represented in Congress by traitors.
George Lang has worked as an award-winning professional journalist in Oklahoma City for over 25 years and is the professional opinion columnist for Free Press. His work has been published in a number of local publications covering a wide range of subjects including politics, media, entertainment and others. George lives in Oklahoma City with his wife and son.
