Citing Trump's recent comment that:
“They ought to look into Judge Curiel, because what Judge Curiel is doing is a total disgrace. . . . O.K.? But we will come back in November. Wouldn’t that be wild if I am president and come back and do a civil case?” [emphasis added]
Biden called this for what it is: a blatant threat by a presidential nominee to use the power of the oval office to intimidate a federal judge because he doesn't like a ruling the judge made in a civil fraud case against him in his private business. Biden said:
"This behavior, in a president, smacks of
authoritarianism and tyranny."
Biden pointed out that what Trump is suggesting is an impeachable offense if carried out by a sitting president -- because it threatens the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution and an abuse of the power of the office of president.
On top of that, it was racist comment in that he said literally that, because of the judge's Mexican heritage (even though he was born in Indiana) he is incapable of being fair to Trump because of his plan to build a wall to keep out Mexicans.
Biden was scathing in a subject near and dear to him as the former chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee -- the independence of the judiciary. But it is more than a personal pique. It gets at the very heart of the structure of our government, something that Donald Trump doesn't seem to understand. Either that or, as Biden pointed out, Trump doesn't care . . . which would be even more dangerous for our democracy.
This is only the beginning. Consider this stellar quartet of heavy-weights who will be going after Donald Trump for the next five months: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Elizabeth Warren, and Joe Biden. And that's just the A Team.
Ralph
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