Republicans Have Rubber-Stamped Approval of All Crime

The Republican Party has long shown contempt for democracy. Their decades-long legacy of gerrymandering, voter suppression, and shameless manipulation of the political process has always served one purpose: to protect the interests of the ultra-wealthy at the expense of everyone else—including their own working-class voter base. But in recent years, they’ve stopped even pretending to care about the law, the Constitution, or basic principles of justice. They’ve effectively given their rubber-stamped approval to all crime.

The most glaring example of this is their unwavering support for Donald Trump—a criminal with not one, not even two, but 34 felony convictions. And that’s just the beginning. Those are only the charges that have made it through a court of law. Given his history, it’s reasonable to assume there are more crimes, shielded by power, money, and political connections.

And let’s not forget: this is the same man who incited a violent insurrection against the United States government on January 6, 2021. A bipartisan congressional tribunal concluded that he was guilty of what can only be described as treason. Even Mike Pence—no paragon of integrity himself—condemned Trump and the rioters. If Pence can recognize treason for what it is, the rest of the Republican Party has no excuse—unless, of course, they simply no longer care.

From day one, Trump violated the Constitution with impunity. He attempted to end birthright citizenship, a right enshrined in the 14th Amendment, which you can read more about here: Trump’s Executive Orders: A Terrifying Disregard for Our Constitution. This reckless move would have rendered millions of Americans stateless overnight. Yet Republican leadership either cheered him on or stayed silent—because in their eyes, the Constitution is only useful when it serves their agenda.

Later, the Trump administration ignored a federal court order guaranteeing due process—an essential tenet of American justice. When the courts pushed back, Republicans smeared the judge and floated the idea of impeachment—not for corruption, but for enforcing the law. Their loyalty is not to the Constitution, but to raw power. The Supreme Court, packed with Republican appointees and beholden to billionaire donors, looked the other way.

Now, figures like J.D. Vance and Trump himself are openly declaring that the law doesn’t apply to the president. Let’s be clear: it does. And openly defying the laws of this country is the foundation of authoritarianism. When the head of state is above the law, democracy is dead.

Perhaps the most alarming escalation is the Republican attack on habeas corpus, the centuries-old legal principle that protects against unlawful imprisonment. According to The American Heritage Dictionary, habeas corpus is “a writ that a person may seek from a court to obtain immediate release from an unlawful confinement.” Without it, it will not be long before any one of us—citizen or not—can be detained indefinitely, without charge or trial. This is not speculation. Trump has already praised authoritarian regimes in El Salvador and Russia for building prison camps and has suggested doing the same here. A direct quote from Trump is that he intends on sending “homegrown Americans,” aka citizens to El Salvador prisons. That means you and I, and anyone who dissents—activists, LGBTQ+ people, women who refuse to conform, people of color, and anyone who won’t toe the Trumpist line—could be targeted and imprisoned indefinitely for no reason other than existing.

And yet, the Republican Party remains silent—or worse, complicit.

Here’s the bottom line: If Republicans believe the law doesn’t apply to them, then they are essentially declaring that the law no longer applies to anyone. They can’t have it both ways. They don’t get to exempt themselves from the law while using it as a weapon against the rest of us. Their actions—and their silence—say loudly and clearly: “The law doesn’t matter.”

This is not a call from me to break the law. But Republicans have already issued that call—through their actions and through their own words. Their refusal to abide by the legal system and their blatant disrespect for the rule of law is a declaration that laws are optional, and justice is meaningless. According to their own logic, no one is required to follow the law.

If the very people entrusted with upholding the law reject it entirely, what does that leave the rest of us?

It leaves us with a choice: fight to reclaim democracy, or watch it fall. Now, more than ever, we must band together to protect one another from an incompetent wannabe dictator—and from the Republican Party that openly celebrates lawlessness.