'A Trump statue?' Senator fears Lincoln Memorial could be target after White House rebuild
WASHINGTON — Some Democrats don’t think it’s a coincidence that President Donald Trump ordered the razing of the East Wing of the White House in the midst of the second-longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
“How do you make sure he doesn’t do this to other monuments?” Raw Story asked.
“I think this is the point for what's happening right now,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) said.
“This is why the erosion of the checks and balances is so dangerous and why having Republicans who are willing to bend over backwards to do whatever he wants is really undermining what our framers intended.
“They did not want a president to be able to do whatever he wants.”
Booker’s not alone.
“The man has no respect for institutions, for democracy, for anything,” Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) told Raw Story. “So it would not surprise me if he did go after some of our most beautiful historic sites in this country.”
“How do you combat that?” Raw Story pressed.
As elevator doors shut on him, Gallego shrugged.
Other Democrats are also shrugging, even as most all are also braced for more to come.
‘Where the hell are my Republican colleagues?’
Democrats are feeling powerless on Capitol Hill, and not just because Trump has refused to negotiate since the government shut down 29 days ago.
“With what Trump did to the East Wing,” Raw Story asked, “are you worried he might start doing a facelift on other monuments?”
“You think he might…take down the president's statue at the Lincoln Memorial and replace it with a Donald Trump statue? I guess everything's possible,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) said.
“This is why you used to have laws and a certain ability to review things. I think it's a very real possibility. Only thing I'd ask is, where the hell are my Republican colleagues?”
For their part, Republicans are shrugging off the controversy. Once again with Trump, they just don’t see the problem.
"I don't,” Sen. Jim Banks (R-IN) told Raw Story. “And I've tried to understand the faux outrage over it. So I dug into it, studied it.”
Like others in the GOP, Banks argues Trump’s blueprint for a massive new ballroom where the East Wing once stood “seems like a significant improvement to the White House.”
“The fake outrage over it makes it sound like they're tearing down like the historic West Wing rooms," Banks said. "The White House is going to be more beautiful than it's ever been when they're done with it.
“Whether you love President Trump, like I do, or you hate him, I mean, nobody can deny that this guy has a talent for construction and development and creating beautiful buildings and places.”
It’s not just Republicans. Some Democrats aren’t paying attention to the destruction of the East Wing.
“I would worry about it, but my list of things I'm worrying about, that's not in the top five,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) told Raw Story.
This week, Kaine’s been busy leading the charge against the Trump administration’s tariff battles with Canada and Brazil.
The Virginian is also advancing efforts to end the shutdown and get paychecks flowing again to the federal workers and contractors across his state, which is home to thousands of government workers.
Kaine’s also once again been one of the loudest voices in Congress demanding lawmakers vote on whether or not to authorize the use of military force — known as an AUMF — against alleged drug cartel activity in the Caribbean and the Pacific.
Compared to the unilateral killing of suspected drug smugglers, Kaine says the razing of the East Room just hasn’t made his plate.
“It's an embarrassment,” Kaine said. “And yet, you know, the ballroom, at least, is not killing people.”
‘One of those moments’
With the GOP holding all the levers of power in Washington, other Democrats are leaning in on their Republican colleagues, trying to pressure them to conduct basic oversight of the Trump administration.
“They control the House and the Senate,” Booker said. “Until they are willing to speak up, we're going to see erosions and attacks on our history, on our heritage, on the way we do things that have been constructive for years in protecting a lot of our common values and virtues.”
That has Democrats like Booker gearing up for next year’s midterm elections.
“It's going to be the biggest time for Americans to say what the polls reflect, as they do not support what the president is doing,” Booker said.
“This is one of those moments where we're still a democracy, the power of the people is still greater than the people in power.
“We all, as Americans, have a right to speak up, and hopefully, especially Republicans — who have the power to do something, to hold hearings, to provide checks and balances — will start taking their jobs seriously.”
Kari Lake's second amendment to her financial disclosure report for 2023 includes the terms of her book deal.
Kari Lake's paid speaking appearances in 2023. (Source: U.S. Senate Office of Public Records)
Credit: OpenSecrets