The Secret Reason that Trump Trampled on Lindsey Graham's Memory

Brian Tyler Cohen

I was on set at CNN’s State of the Union this morning when Donald Trump called into CNN for the first time in a decade for what was supposed to be a tribute to his late friend, Lindsey Graham. I should have known better.

Within moments, Trump explained that Graham called him last night and was “pushing very, very hard– you probably know that he wanted to do the Save America Act.” He attempted to offer words of sadness, but that’s not one of his settings. So instead, he immediately devolved back into this: “Where he was really becoming strong was the Save America Act,” Trump explained. “He was coming aboard I think for the filibuster, for terminating the filibuster, but before we did that, he was a strong advocate for Save America. And that’s what he was calling me about.”

With Graham’s body still warm, Trump went on a whole Sunday show circuit - NBC, CNN - to exploit the death of his friend in an effort to promote a voter suppression bill that would enable Trump to consolidate power for himself. I’ve heard of “never letting a good tragedy go to waste,” but perhaps Trump could have at least waited until Graham was in the ground before propping up his corpse for his own personal benefit.

But it raises the question: why is Trump so hellbent on passing this legislation that he would not only exploit Graham’s death, but even try to sacrifice his own housing bill? It’s because, as Trump himself says, passing the Save America Act would enable Republicans to “not lose an election for 100 years.” Trump will claim the Save America Act is about voter ID; it’s not. At its core, this bill is federal control over how all fifty states register and verify voters: there would be a nationwide proof-of-citizenship mandate, where the Trump administration would be the arbiter of who is or is not a citizen; states would be forced to hand their voter rolls over to the Department of Homeland Security, where they would decide who stays on those rolls; and there would be a functional end to mail-in voting outside a narrow list of exceptions, which disproportionately impacts the Democrats. It would amount to the federal government consolidating authority that has sat with the states for the entire history of this country, and putting it in the hands of an administration that has already shown exactly what it wants to do with that power. Again, Trump said it: Democrats wouldn’t win another election for 100 years. And for posterity, nobody who genuinely believes in free and fair elections tells you the payoff is a hundred years of uninterrupted control.

https://www.meidasplus.com/p/the-secret-reason-that-trump-trampled il