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This weekend, we mark the 75th anniversary of Sen. Margaret Chase Smith’s “Declaration of Conscience” speech. On June 1, 1950, Smith addressed the Senate to criticize the tactics of Sen. Joseph McCarthy, whom she did not name. Her fellow Republican claimed to have lists of communist sympathizers within the U.S. government and threatened to out people for a variety of perceived misdeeds.
In her 15-minute speech, Smith urged her Senate colleagues to remember their constitutional duties and warned against the rush to “trial by accusation” and “character prosecution” in the Senate. She criticized both Democrats and Republicans, although hoping for a Republican victory in the 1950 election. “But,” she said, “I do not want to see the Republican Party ride to political victory on the Four Horsemen of Calumny — Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry, and Smear.”
The speech had minimal impact at the time as McCarthy, who successfully stripped Smith of a Senate subcommittee chairship and unsuccessfully funded her primary challenger, continued his witchhunt for four more years. His time in the spotlight ended after televised hearings on his claims against the U.S. Army. The Army’s lawyer famously responded to McCarthy’s attacks with the immortal line: “Have you no sense of decency?”
Such a question could surely be asked of the current occupant of the White House.
Despite its lack of immediate impact, Smith’s speech has resonated for decades because of the courage she, then a first-term senator, showed in calling on her colleagues and her party to condemn and reject the bullying smear tactics of McCarthy and his allies.
Such courage is needed again as President Donald Trump has taken the smear tactics used by McCarthy to a new level. He’s bullied and threatened Harvard University and its students by canceling federal funding for the school and moving to revoke visas for its international students, and Chinese students from many other universities and colleges. He’s bullied and punished Maine for its policies on transgender athletes by withholding funding, having his Cabinet agencies conduct sham investigations and even, briefly, made it harder for Maine parents to get birth certificates for their newborn babies.
His administration has detained and deported people without due process, even refusing to act when a court ordered the return of a man who had been living and working in Maryland with his family and was deported due to an “administrative error,” according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.
The Trump administration has fired thousands of federal employees, including vital government watchdogs.
Judges have stopped or delayed many of these actions, but the instability and uncertainty the Trump administration has caused has already harmed many Americans, and our standing in the world.
Because of Trump’s penchant for retribution, many fear speaking out against his policies and his actions. Like Smith did 75 years ago, some must find the courage. The damage that Trump is doing to America, and its institutions, is too dangerous to remain silent.
Beyond his acts, including those that violate the Constitution, there should be serious concerns about Trump’s ability to lead the country. Just as Democrats wrongly hid the mental decline of former President Joe Biden, Republicans can’t ignore the president’s often incoherent, vengeful ramblings.
Consider this social media post from the president for Memorial Day:
“HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY TO ALL, INCLUDING THE SCUM THAT SPENT THE LAST FOUR YEARS TRYING TO DESTROY OUR COUNTRY THROUGH WARPED RADICAL LEFT MINDS, WHO ALLOWED 21,000,000 MILLION PEOPLE TO ILLEGALLY ENTER OUR COUNTRY, MANY OF THEM BEING CRIMINALS AND THE MENTALLY INSANE,THROUGH AN OPEN BORDER THAT ONLY AN INCOMPETENT PRESIDENT WOULD APPROVE, AND THROUGH JUDGES WHO ARE ON A MISSION TO KEEP MURDERERS, DRUG DEALERS, RAPISTS, GANG MEMBERS, AND RELEASED PRISONERS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD, IN OUR COUNTRY SO THEY CAN ROB, MURDER, AND RAPE AGAIN — ALL PROTECTED BY THESE USA HATING JUDGES WHO SUFFER FROM AN IDEOLOGY THAT IS SICK, AND VERY DANGEROUS FOR OUR COUNTRY. HOPEFULLY THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT, AND OTHER GOOD AND COMPASSIONATE JUDGES THROUGHOUT THE LAND, WILL SAVE US FROM THE DECISIONS OF THE MONSTERS WHO WANT OUR COUNTRY TO GO TO HELL. BUT FEAR NOT, WE HAVE MADE GREAT PROGRESS OVER THE LAST 4 MONTHS, AND AMERICA WILL SOON BE SAFE AND GREAT AGAIN! AGAIN, HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY, AND GOD BLESS AMERICA!”
No matter what your feelings are on immigration, this post is shockingly unpresidential and completely inappropriate for a day set aside to remember and honor our fallen military members.
At a time when we’re reconsidering the brave words of a young senator, it’s also time to take a closer, critical, look at the confounding and dangerous actions of our president. One could easily declare that ignoring the Constitution, threatening judges, starting trade wars, undercutting scientific and medical research, and countless other malicious actions are not a recipe for making America great again.
