The Trump administration is now in full force, and with that comes drastic change. FBI director since 2013, James Comey, was recently fired by President Trump on May 9th despite position-promised tenure. Many believe he was fired because of Trump’s own biased actions or as an “abuse of power.” Comey was in charge of the ongoing investigation on the ties between the Trump administration and the Russian government, which is why many questions arose.
After a hot minute of scandal, Trump openly admitted to NBC’s Lester Holt that he did, in fact, fire Comey because of the Russia investigation. He then quickly defends himself by saying that the entire situation is a fictional story created by the Democratic party.
“[…] I was going to fire Comey. Knowing there was no good time to do it! And in fact when I decided to just do it I said to myself, I said, “You know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story, it’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should’ve won.”
He then turns to his creative and emotional outlet, Twitter, and claims that the Russia investigation is a “hoax” somehow created by taxpayers:
The Russia-Trump collusion story is a total hoax, when will this taxpayer funded charade end?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2017
Despite the president’s so-called position of a political “puppet” to larger authorities, Trump has been showing strong signs of self-endowed power throughout his entire, so-called presidency. His impulsive and power hungry acts such as his strike on Syria which lacked congressional authorization, and now, his firing of Jeff Comey, all paint the picture of Trump abusing his position of authority.
Many have compared this fiasco to the Nixon/Watergate scandal in 1972. Former President Richard Nixon, while running for reelection, abused his power by having others break into the Democratic National Committee office to wiretap phones and steal documents for “hush money” in return. Nixon then fired attorney general in charge of investigating, Archibald Cox, to prevent his secret being told to the country. In 1974, Nixon had then resigned after his story had been brought into the light.
An oligarchy is a form of government defined as “espotic power exercised by a small and privileged group for corrupt or selfish purposes.” In many citizens’ eyes, the Trump administration, compared to the rest of the country, is very small and very privileged. If their tactics continue to be successful, will the country turn into an oligarchy? Will the rich and powerful blatantly take advantage of their supremacy and divide our country even further? If history truly repeats itself, then the future of our country may be in danger.
