Disapproving

To the editor:

Extrajudicial executions, political prosecutions, silencing dissent, restricting media access to information of public interest and widespread abuses of executive power are hallmarks of banana republics. They also describe Donald Trump’s presidency. 

A new AP-NORC poll revealed that Americans are starting to recognize this fact with one 78-year old Republican from Florida telling pollsters that Trump’s second term is akin to “having a petulant child in the White House, with unmitigated power.”

One-third of Republicans now disapprove of Trump’s handling of the government, the economy and healthcare. Even worse, three-quarters of independents disapprove of Trump’s performance on these three key issues, with two-thirds of all respondents expressing disapproval. Trump is even underwater on his signature issue, immigration (42 percent approval, 57 percent disapproval).  

Besides disliking Trump’s authoritarian governing approach and policy failures, some of his supporters are starting to question his veracity. A separate Marist poll found that 56 percent of Republicans don’t believe Trump regarding the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, with 80 percent of all respondents disapproving of the way Trump has handled the investigation; two-thirds of Republicans want to see all the Epstein files released. Disapproval of Trump is likely to rise as the poll was taken before the recent emails from Epstein naming Trump and pointing to his further involvement were made public. 

It appears that Trump has cried “hoax” once too often. The House is scheduled to vote on releasing all DOJ files on Epstein; the measure is likely to pass. If anything stops the release of these files — the Senate refuses to take a vote, the measure fails in the Senate due to pressure from the White House or Trump vetoes the measure — even the most ardent MAGA supporters will turn their backs on this “Banana Republican president.” 

Joseph Cannisi