It’s not just what’s written in stone. There are also many unwritten traditions we Americans respect. One of the most important, following the example of George Washington — who, once he left office, went back to Mount Vernon and was never heard from again — is that former presidents sit on the sidelines and resist the temptation to criticize their successors, no matter how much they disagree.
That tradition has been a great blessing. For more than 200 years, it has helped unite the country and provide continuity in government. It is an honorable and noble tradition.
And it’s also time to blow it up.
President Trump has already done so much harm in his second term that it has become unacceptable, cowardly and even unpatriotic for former presidents not to speak out and raise hell.
Maybe we can give Joe Biden a pass. Trump could easily dismiss any criticism from him as coming from a “sore loser.” But that’s not true of Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. There’s no excuse for them to remain silent.
Clearly, no one could accuse them of being the first to break with tradition. Trump has shattered every tradition we once knew, starting with the most basic. The president telling the truth? Not Trump. Admitting the outcome of an election and accepting defeat? Not Trump. Attending your successor’s Inauguration? Not Trump. Respecting the rule of law? Not Trump. Honoring the limits of the presidency as laid out in the Constitution? Not Trump. Refraining from criticizing decisions made by his successor? Not Trump. He began attacking Biden on Day One of his presidency and never stopped.
Trump has, in effect, given former presidents a green light to come off the sidelines and speak out. Not only that, but he has made it imperative for them to do so. How can Clinton, Bush and Obama remain silent when Trump has taken a wrecking ball, if not a chainsaw, to the government they once served so well?
Consider all the damage Trump has done in just one month. On the home front, he pardoned 1,600 people who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, including some 200 who assaulted police officers. He shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development and announced plans to eliminate the Department of Education and FEMA.
He fired thousands of federal employees, many in sensitive jobs at the Department of Energy, the Forest Service, NIH, IRS, FAA and the Department of Agriculture. He also gutted the leadership of the military, firing the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the commandant of the Coast Guard, the vice-chief of the Air Force, and the top officer of the Navy — all with no apparent cause.
On the global front, he reversed decades of American foreign policy by embracing Russian President Vladimir Putin as his new best friend. He abandoned American support for Ukraine’s self-defense against Russia’s invasion. He launched a trade war against Mexico and China, alienated our Western European allies, and announced his intention to seize Panama, Greenland and Gaza — all while JD Vance and Elon Musk were openly promoting or legitimizing Germany’s extremist, neo-Nazi political party.
And Trump’s just getting started. Are former presidents even aware of what’s going on? You’d expect Bush and Obama, especially, to speak up, given that Trump has targeted two of their greatest successes.
After the war in Iraq, George W. Bush may be most remembered for creating the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, the anti-HIV/AIDS agency credited with saving 25 million lives, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet in his first week in office, Trump put the program on hold and took PEPFAR’s computer system offline. Although the program has not been cancelled, its future is very much in question.
Obama is the proud father of the Affordable Care Act, which now provides health insurance for 24 million Americans. Trump has made no secret of his plan to eliminate that law. He has already cut funding for “navigators” — those who help Americans determine what protection they qualify for under Obamacare — by 90 percent.
Yet still not a peep from Bush, Obama or Clinton. Why not? What are they waiting for? What are they doing that’s more important?
To Clinton, Bush and Obama, our message must be loud and clear: There is too much at stake for you to remain on the sidelines. We once trusted you to lead this nation. Now we need you to speak out — and save it.
BillPress is host of “The Bill Press Pod.” He is the author of “From the Left: A Life in the Crossfire.” Follow him on BlueSky @BillPress.bsky.social.
