Trump is unredeemable. What about his enablers? | Editorial

By now, it is beyond obvious that Donald Trump is unredeemable.

Trump assumed the Oval Office in 2016 as the most inexperienced, untruthful, and unstable president in modern history, if not ever. He has only grown worse.

This past year, Trump has been a one-man wrecking ball, attacking norms, institutions, public health, higher education, the rule of law, and the Constitution. Never before has a president led such a relentless assault on the United States and its allies, while cozying up to dictators.

Trump has literally waged war at home and abroad, sending federal troops into cities, deporting thousands of immigrants without due process, and murdering alleged drug runners without providing any evidence.

The list of corrupt and egregious abuses of power is long and growing by the day.

But perhaps more shameful than Trump is how so many who know better have enabled him — including many top officials in Pennsylvania.

The list includes U.S. Sens. Dave McCormick and John Fetterman, as well as U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday, and dozens of GOP representatives in Harrisburg and Washington.

Each one has played a distinctive role in putting Trump above their constitutional oath. Many other Republican officials across the country, along with the conservatives on the U.S. Supreme Court and right-wing media, have enabled and emboldened Trump’s worst instincts. The collective cowardice has damaged the United States and forever stained each individual’s place in history.

Fetterman was the only Democratic senator who voted to confirm Attorney General Pam Bondi, an election denier who represented Trump during his first impeachment.

Bondi is not an independent law enforcement official. She worked to undermine legal proceedings and elections before becoming attorney general.

Bondi promoted conspiracy theories during Trump’s impeachment trial, traveled to New York to criticize the judge and prosecutor overseeing Trump’s criminal trial, and came to Pennsylvania to spread false claims about the 2020 election.

Yet, Fetterman still voted for Bondi.

Since getting confirmed, she has overseen the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Justice. Under Bondi, prosecutors have defied court orders, attacked judges, dropped criminal cases against Trump allies, targeted the president’s perceived enemies, and bungled the Jeffrey Epstein files.

Fitzpatrick, a Republican who represents Bucks County, initially voted in favor of Trump’s so-called Big Beautiful Bill that gave tax cuts to the super wealthy, added $3.4 trillion to the deficit, and cut nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid and food stamps spending.

He later voted against the final version — after it was clear it would pass without his support. Fitzpatrick is now scrambling to keep health insurance premiums under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, from soaring. But his initial vote set the current course.

Fitzpatrick, who is up for reelection in November, represents a swing district. He tries to appear bipartisan, but votes with Trump on most major issues. He voted against impeaching him and rarely criticizes the president’s abuses of power or corruption.

The rest of the Pennsylvania Republican delegation in Congress has also largely remained unanimous in its support for Trump and his extremism. Dozens of federal and state officials in Pennsylvania, including U.S. Rep. Scott Perry (R., York) and State Sen. Doug Mastriano (R., Franklin), shamed themselves and the country by working with Trump to overturn the 2020 election. Efforts that led to a violent insurrection.

Still, they continue to support Trump’s wayward ways.

Sunday, the top law enforcement official in Pennsylvania, has been largely missing in action since getting elected 13 months ago. He has failed to stand up to the Trump administration when its actions harm Pennsylvanians.

Instead, Sunday has deferred to Gov. Josh Shapiro to lead legal fights after Trump cut funds for education, public safety, farm aid, and SNAP benefits. Shapiro has filed or joined more than a dozen lawsuits against the Trump administration, while Sunday — a Republican who served two terms as the district attorney in York County — has laid low.

Just weeks after taking his Senate office, McCormick cast a key vote to confirm Pete Hegseth as the defense secretary. McCormick, a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, backed Hegseth despite knowing the Fox & Friends Weekend cohost was utterly unqualified to keep America safe.

Hegseth went from whining about the “woke military” on TV to overseeing a Defense Department with nearly three million military and civilian employees and a budget of $850 billion.

Hegseth’s only military experience was time spent in the National Guard, where he was flagged as an “insider threat” because of tattoos linked to white supremacists.

He was an incompetent manager who was forced to step down from two tiny nonprofits because of financial mismanagement, sexual impropriety, and personal misconduct. Others said Hegseth routinely passed out from excessive drinking, including while on the job at Fox News.

All of that was known to McCormick and the 49 other Republican senators who voted to approve Hegseth despite their duty to ensure cabinet nominees are qualified.

Hegseth quickly demonstrated he is unfit for the job. Just weeks after getting confirmed, he used an unsecure messaging app to text classified war plans to a group that mistakenly included a journalist.

In the wrong hands, the war plans — which included information about weapons packages, targets, and timing — could have endangered the lives of troops. If other military officers shared similar classified information, they could have been court-martialed.

Hegseth’s purging of career military leaders is also making America weaker, as he places loyalty to Trump above competency, distinguished service, and merit.

Hegseth has overseen the bombing of alleged drug boats that violate international law and amount to extrajudicial killings. The legal rationale is dubious at best and may constitute war crimes.

At the very least, the deadly strikes are immoral and violate the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

McCormick did not respond to requests to comment on whether he regrets supporting Hegseth. During McCormick’s Senate campaign, he talked up the West Point motto of “duty, honor, country.”

Like so many other so-called leaders, those ideals have taken a back seat to serving Trump.

One day, Trump will be gone — but his enablers will have to answer for the damage they helped to wreak.