What did Donald Trump do today?
He blamed congressional Democrats for not passing legislation during a recess that he's promised to veto anyway.
Several times today, Trump insisted that Democrats had "abandoned" DACA recipients. He told Fox News' Jeanine Pirro that he was "the one that's pushing DACA, and the Democrats are nowhere to be found"--a quote he both retweeted and expanded upon.
Congressional Democrats are the minority party, and Congress is in recess this week. Democrats have been trying to pass some version of the "DREAM Act," which would permanently protect children brought to the United States, since 2001.
Earlier this month, however, a bill with bipartisan support that would have extended legal protection to DACA recipients seemed likely to pass in Congress, until a Trump veto threat scuttled it. Trump called the bill a "total catastrophe"--not because it wouldn't protect Dreamers, but because it didn't include American taxpayer funding for his proposed border wall or restrictions on "chain migration," which is his term for naturalized Americans who sponsor other family members for permanent residency. (Trump's mother, paternal grandfather, and father- and mother-in-law all followed family members to the United States.)
Trump, acting alone, rescinded all DACA protections by executive order in September of last year, and could reinstate it just as easily if he wanted to.
Why does this matter?
- Blaming other people for things you did yourself is hypocrisy.
- A president who creates problems he's unwilling to solve may just not be very good at his job.