by Jon Queally, The Anti Media:
Denouncing the U.S. right to birthright citizenship—guaranteed by the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution—as “ridiculous,” President Donald Trump has falsely claimed that he has the power to subvert that guarantee by presidential fiat – his latest effort to mainstream a noxious lie and xenophobic trope while also furthering what critics call his authoritarian approach to governance by once more exploiting certain members of the White House press corps willing to carry his water for him.
njected into a White House interview by Axios‘ Jonathan Swan, a reporter who prides himself on receiving inside information from anonymous top-level Trump officials, the president appeared surprised (or feigned surprise) that anybody knew his internal desire and plan to end birthright citizenship but said “it will happen” and that “now they’re saying I can do it just with an executive order.”
It’s not clear who Trump is referring to when he says “they,” but it’s reasonable to assume—given that Trump says he didn’t think anybody else knew about it—that it’s the very same staff person or people who told Swan to ask him the question in the first place.
Watch:
But pushing back against the idea that Swan had somehow scooped a new White House proposal, other journalists warned that Swan was playing—wittingly or not—right into Trump’s hands by letting the president and his White House staff put out into the world another piece of red meat for Trump’s racist, xenophobic base.
Guys. Trump can’t terminate amendments via executive order. To respond as if he’s ending birthright citizenship because he told an outlet he is ending birthright citizenship is to allow him to be our assignment editor. It’s an obvious stunt
— Sam Stein (@samstein) 30 October 2018
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