Charles Blow sardonically turned President Donald Trump's words against him to call for a "pause" in his administration until the Russia scandal can be better investigated.
The New York Times columnist alluded to Trump's campaign promise to halt immigration from majority Muslim nations -- which he tried to enact through a legally dubious executive order -- until Americans could figure out "what the hell is going on."
"The American people must immediately demand a cessation of all consequential actions by this 'president' until we can be assured that Russian efforts to hack our election, in a way that was clearly meant to help him and damage his opponent, did not also include collusion with or coverup by anyone involved in the Trump campaign and now administration," Blow wrote.
"This may sound extreme, but if the gathering fog of suspicion should yield an actual connection, it would be one of the most egregious assaults on our democracy ever. It would not only be unprecedented, it would be a profound wound to faith in our sovereignty."
Blow said he would prefer a "permanent termination" of Trump's "aggressive agenda," but he called for a temporary halt to the president's executive authority -- although he didn't specify how that would be accomplished.
"Republicans pitched a fit when President Obama nominated Merrick Garland to fill the seat made open by the death of Antonin Scalia, falsely arguing that a president should not be allowed to fill a vacancy during the last year of his term," Blow wrote. "Well, it is not at all clear to me that this will not be the last year of Donald Trump’s term, should these investigations reveal something untoward between his regime and Russia."
