Axios Scrambles to Prep You For 'Law and Order' Trump
Axios dutifully reports on Trump's musing about using the Insurrection Act to send federal troops to US cities, noting it's 'rarely used executive power.' They mention the Brennan Center's concerns about its 'limitless discretion.' What they don't prominently feature is how Trump actually threatened to invoke it in June 2020 against George Floyd protesters, leading to federal agents tear-gassing
peaceful demonstrators for a photo op. This isn't just a theoretical debate; it's a playbook Trump already started to run. The media, including Axios, presented the 2020 events as unfortunate clashes, rather than a dry run for quashing dissent. One might wonder if the concern over 'limitless discretion' would be sharper if Congress actually legislated limits, instead of empowering presidents to
override local authorities. Or perhaps, for some, the discretion is only 'overly broad' when their preferred brand of authoritarianism isn't in charge.