North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson (Screengrab C-SPAN)
What’s next? An executive order that purports to repeal the law of gravity?
That’s the understandable reaction many people have had in recent days to President Donald Trump’s lengthy list of first-week edicts.
And while several would shatter norms of constitutional and democratic government, no order was more outrageous than Trump’s absurd claim to be ending the long established constitutional right of all people born in the U.S. to be American citizens.
Thankfully, a large group of state attorneys general, including North Carolina’s Jeff Jackson have called out Trump’s unconstitutional act in a federal lawsuit.
As Jackson rightfully noted in a statement, quote: “This executive order is a straightforward violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, which guarantees citizenship to all people born on U.S. soil. The Constitution leaves no room for executive reinterpretation on this matter—it is clear, settled, and binding.”
The bottom line: Donald Trump is not and must not be permitted to act as a dictator. Good for Jackson for standing up for the constitution. The federal courts should follow suit right away.
For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.