"Donald Trump is the most despicable human being to ever reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,” Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN) proclaimed in a New Year's Eve interview on MSNBC. Representative Cohen added that "civil disobedience" is essential to the survival of our republic. People should "take to the streets," Cohen said.
Congressman Cohen is one of President Trump's most vocal critics in Congress, calling the president a "narcissistic sociopath" who will do "anything to improve ratings," even if that means starting a war. Mr. Cohen goes on to express his befuddlement over Mr. Trump's support from Evangelical Christians, which he states is "amazing considering the man [Trump] doesn't go to church." President Trump's history of adultery and mistreatment of women seem to reinforce this sentiment.
In November 2017, Representative Cohen and six other congressional Democrats introduced articles of impeachment against the 45th president, citing Mr. Trump's controversial remarks to racially-charged violence at a rally in Charlottesville, VA. Mr. Cohen took to Twitter to announce his intentions: "The repeated injuries to our Constitution and democracy must be brought to an end. I'm fighting upstream, I've fought upstream my whole life, and I was proud to stand with my colleagues to introduce articles of #Impeachment against Donald Trump."
President Trump's unexpected victory in the 2016 presidential election has made 2017 a turbulent time in US politics. Since his inauguration, President Donald Trump has faced continued criticism over his attitude toward alt-right groups, which hold and express racist and pro-Nazi beliefs. David Duke, former Grand Wizard of the KKK, expressed his excitement over Mr. Trump's victory in 2016, stating on Twitter that "This is one of the most exciting nights of my life -> make no mistake about it, our people have played a HUGE role in electing Trump! #MAGA."
Mr. Trump, 71, has not been shy about how he views the alt-right. Former Senior Advisor, Steve Bannon, founded the right-wing site, Breitbart, which racially excoriated President Obama and his family. Many of President Trump's Tweets, including one in which he body-slams CNN, originate on alt-right, neo-Nazi pages.
When asked who was responsible for sparking riotous behavior, in which a Nazi sympathizer ran over and killed liberal activist Heather Heyer, the president said "that were very fine people, on both sides." The violence in Charlottesville, VA escalated from white supremacists protesting the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. President Trump also used the events in Charlottesville to brag about his personal connection, stating "I own, actually, one of the largest wineries in the United States -- it's in Charlottesville."
