Conservative New York Times columnist David French on Thursday expressed deep concern about the early actions of President Donald Trump in his second term.
French began his latest column on an ominous note by acknowledging that "I have never been more concerned about the rule of law in the United States."
What particularly disturbed him were two particular actions taken by the president: The mass pardon of rioters who assaulted the United States Capitol building on his behalf four years ago and his decision to revoke Secret Service protection from his own former national security adviser, John Bolton.
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"Bolton has faced threats from an American enemy, the Islamic Republic of Iran," French wrote. "In fact, he was the target of an assassination plot by a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in 2022. At the same time that he was taking away Bolton’s Secret Service protection, Trump granted absolution to men and women who violently attacked the seat of American government and tried to foment a rebellion against the lawful, constitutional government of the United States."
French then went on to criticize former President Joe Biden for pardoning his own family members on his way out of office before then explaining why Trump's pardons of the Capitol rioters were significantly more dangerous.
"Trump’s opening-day pardons were something else entirely. He was sending two messages. First, membership in the MAGA movement has its rewards, and one of them is freedom from the law itself. The attack on the Capitol was an act of vicious political violence, and now its shock troops and architects are posing for triumphant pictures and celebrated across the length and breadth of MAGA America."
In fact, French believes that Trump's pardons of his own violent supporters are an indication that he won't even obey Supreme Court rulings that go against him.