Rethinking
“Unconstitutional”
In the context of Trump, the word is simply another malignant adjective, like criminal or heinous or insane
By Randi Hacker
April 23, 2025
Something’s been bothering me since Donald J. Trump was returned to the White House. And it’s not about him.
Well, it’s about him, of course – isn’t everything? – But this is not a complaint about his cruelty or his immorality or his dishonesty or his ignorance.
And it’s not a complaint about the Republicans’ aiding and abetting or their hypocrisy or their cowardice or their guns.
It’s about something that lately strikes me either as ridiculously naïve or ridiculously disingenuous. Or it could be delusional. It is certainly misguided.
I refer to the continued use of the word unconstitutional, as in this recent news report:
“In a stunning hot mic moment during a closed-door exchange with El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, President Donald Trump suggested deporting American citizens – whom he called “home-growns” – to El Salvador for detention, a move that would be unprecedented and likely unconstitutional.”
Here, the word is being deployed as if it actually meant anything anymore; as if it were a powerful argument that would win in a court of law; as if it were some kind of “Gotcha!”; as if Donald Trump cared one whit about that.
Unconstitutional means nothing to Trump. It never has. And now that the Supreme Court has given him absolute power, the Constitution is just something else he can lie about, denigrate, and ignore with impunity.
In the context of Trump, the word unconstitutional is simply another malignant adjective like criminal or heinous or insane. It has no power beyond that, neither ethical nor historical nor legal.
Unconstitutional means nothing to Trump. It never has. And now that the Supreme Court has given him absolute power, the Constitution is just something else he can lie about, denigrate, and ignore with impunity.
And as for courts of law, well, Trump is a convicted felon who cares less about the justice system than he does about the Constitution. So when I read lines like this one: “Know that courts are pushing back,” I scoff. Talk about disingenuous and naïve. Criminal contempt charges? Supreme Court orders? Court dates? Pile them on. He’ll ignore them and whine about them in CAPITAL LETTERS on TruthSocial.
So, how do we measure the degree of depravity and fascism and vulgarity of such a man in an America in which the Constitution is no longer the gold standard, the incontrovertible last word, the foundation of all that made the U.S. a pretty good country to live in?
We don’t. We move on. We use other adjectives instead, adjectives that are bold and fearless and accurate, adjectives like childish and cruel and authoritarian and petty.
Perhaps, if we read and hear these more potent descriptors over and over and over again, in places where unconstitutional might once have been deployed – e.g., in a breathtakingly childish and petty act of retribution, Trump instructed the Department of Justice to investigate two administration officials who criticized him – well, maybe the horrific reality will sink in, and maybe we’ll do something about it, not because it’s unconstitutional, but because it’s shameful.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of WestmountMag.ca or its publishers.
Feature image: Tara Winstead – Pexels
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Randi Hacker has been a writer and editor since the 20th century, and she’s been writing about the environment for more than thirty years, mostly to empower young people to take agency in their future. Satirical essays written with a partner appeared in the New York Times Book Review, Punch and Spy, among other publications. Her YA novel, Life As I Knew It, (Simon & Schuster) was named one of the Books for the Teen Age by the NY Public Library, and her TV show, Windy Acres, written with Jay Craven, was nominated for a New England Emmy for Writing. She just retired from her position as the resolutions copy editor for the State of Vermont, a job that has forever damaged her relationship with the comma. randihacker.com
Wonderful article. But as Trump cares not a hoot about anything or anyone but himself, the only relief we may have from him is when the Republican cowards, as you wrote, cross the aisle, or when the midterms elect more Democrats in both houses so they can remove this reprobate from Office.