“When somebody is president of the United States, the authority is total,” Trump said at the White House. “The governors know that.” — Associated Press, April 12, 2020.
MAGA has always enthusiastically supported dictatorial powers — as long as the dictator is their own. MAGA hates any and all Constitutional checks on their power. And now they have their man.
Designs for Dictatorial Powers
Of the many paths to dictatorship that MAGA bandies about, the most popular “king theory” among MAGA today is called the Unitary Executive Theory. It’s a fringe theory that vests the entirety of the Executive Branch — which includes federal law enforcement — in the power and authority of one man. In other words, a king.
Many in MAGA go even further in twisting the Constitution in their pursuit of a king. Patriot Academy, a nationwide organization that offers courses in distorted Constitutional law in far-right churches, asserts that the king Executive should be absolutely immune to any Constitutional restraints on his power. Such an unrestrained Executive would be utterly free to shrug off and disregard court rulings that prohibit misuse of power.
That’s a king.
Usurping Legislative Powers
Another dictatorial MAGA dream that’s currently in the news is yet another fringe and legally dubious move: the pocket rescission. The idea is to allow the king to dictate or withhold federal spending on his own — a power normally given to Congress — to blackmail states and cities into carrying out the king’s edicts.
That’s a king.
MAGA’s Aversion to Accountability
MAGA absolutely hates any checks, balances, or restraints on government power. That lust for unaccountable power shows up in still another fringe theory: the “independent state legislature” theory. MAGA’s dream is to give state legislatures — only their own, of course — absolute power to control, regulate, and rig elections within that state. This dangerous theory would grant state legislatures absolute immunity from Constitutional restraints that any state or federal court ruling might impose. The Supreme Court rejected the idea by a vote of 6-3, with Idi Amin Clarence Thomas, “Don” Alito, and Neil Gorsuch supporting the rogue theory.
MAGA hates any restraints on government power.
MAGA Wants an Unaccountable King
Notice how MAGA would always accuse Biden, and Obama, and California governor Gavin Newsom of acting like kings?
That’s because dictatorial, unaccountable government power is the only thing that MAGA understands. And when they are not the ones in power, any executive or gubernatorial act that stands in the way of their own power feels to them like the tyrannical act of a king.
That’s why we say, “No Kings.”
