President Donald Trump startled Americans across the country in a Monday afternoon press briefing.
After beginning with a propaganda video designed to vindicate his botched response to the virus rather than relay any sort of helpful information to the American people stuck in their homes, he set his sights on America's governors.
Trump has indicated an eagerness to reopen the economy by the beginning of May, but the decision isn't his.
It's been governors across the United States who issued the stay at home orders necessary to slow the spread of the virus, only to be told by Trump that the states were on their own in securing crucial medical equipment, and that they should only rely on the federal government as a backup.
In a stunning reversal, the President is now asserting that he alone has the power to scale back the stay at home orders implemented by the governors.
As even some of his Republican allies are pointing out, this is false and flies in the face of the 10th Amendment.
Nevertheless, Trump asserted in the press briefing that the President has "total authority" in these matters.
Watch below.
TRUMP: "When somebody is the president of the United States, the authority is total. And that's the way it's gotta be. It's total." pic.twitter.com/zIuiBn1Mhw
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 13, 2020
Trump said:
"When somebody is the president of the United States, the authority is total. And that's the way it's gotta be. It's total."
The statement was in diametric opposition to the long-held Republican platform of states' rights and limited federal powers, but Republicans were largely silent.
Fox News host Bret Baier, however, wasn't.
Baier noted the double standard between Trump and former President Barack Obama, especially in regards to federal overreach.
Watch below.
Baier said:
"I think that there's a hypocrisy here...if President Obama had said those words that you heard from President Trump, that the authority is total with the Presidency, Conservatives' heads would've exploded across the board."
Nearly everyone thought Baier was right.
People were surprised to see the criticism coming from Fox News of all places.
For a whole book's worth about what Obama has actually said, check out The Audacity of Hope, available here.
