Replies

“I am a never trump person.. You tell me how trump is better. You must have reasons. Is it the 45 percent tariff on Mexico? Planned parenthood..no I can’t keep up with his Kerry-esque positions. I am a rational, reasonable constitutionalist. Give me trumps constitutional positions.
It is a sincere request, so you know.”

I think that most of Trump’s campaign is actually based on Constitutional issues it is just that he does not use the term. This has caused some confusion and I believe led to the claim that Trump is in some way, not a “Constitutional Conservative.” Lets look at Trumps stated positions and see if they can be grounded in the Constitution.

I apologize for the length

1. An emphasis upon justice and upholding the law is an emphasis on upholding the Constitution.
When Trump launched his campaign last June in his first speech announcing his candidacy he made the following statement that he has repeated many, many, many times since. “A nation without borders is not a nation and a nation without laws is not a nation.” That statement cuts to the heart of the Constitution because the Constitution is the basis of all law in the US. One of the primary duties of the president is to uphold the law. If part of the law is inconsistently applied due to a differing world view or for simple venality then the whole law is damaged. In disregarding the lawful way to amend the Constitution the democrats have debased the Constitution. Specifically as far as the Trump campaign has been concerned the Obama administration has by disregarding Federal Immigration law damaged the Constitution.

By pledging to uphold immigration law and to prosecute law breakers employed by the government and to cease using tax law as a cudgel against political opponents Trump is enforcing the Constitution.

Obama through his numerous executive orders that bypass the legislative process has, in effect said; “I am the law not the Constitution.”

In refusing to prosecute democrats for political reasons the Constitution is damaged.

By allowing judicial over reach the Constitution is damaged.

Trump has spoken out against all these things. When Trump says that he will uphold the law he is saying that he will uphold the Constitution. While I agree with the Cruz supporters that Trump is probably not an expert in Constitutional law I think that his pledge to uphold and enforce the whole law is an implicit pledge to uphold the Constitution.

2. National concealed carry.
Trump has put forward a plan to create a national concealed carry permit. This is the most far reaching roll back of anti second-amendment law ever proposed. This is clearly a Constitutional issue and Trump is on the right side of it.

3. Trump supports the right of free association
Trump has promised to repeal ObamaCare. This is a Constitutional issue because being forced into Obama Care violates our freedom of association. Once again he does not call this a Constitutional issue because he prefers to think of himself as a pragmatist but the fact remain. ObamaCare not only does not work but violates the Bill of Rights.

4. By advocating the removal of restrictions on selling health insurance across state lines Trump is upholding the interstate commerce clause - a Constitutional issue

5.Unlimited immigration deprives citizens of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Trump upholds the Constitution on immigration. This one is tricky. One of our most basic right is the right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. Letting millions upon millions of illegals invade our country has deprived us of those. We are on our way to becoming slaves because excess labor has depressed wages meaning that a majority of Households now qualify for some form of government assistance. Violent illegals regularly deprive our citizens of live and make us fearful to exercise our liberty. Unlimited immigration also deprives many of their property rights. This is a Constitutional Issue.

6. Trump is the only candidate supporting free speech
By standing up to the Politically Correct speech bullies Trump and Trump alone of the Republican candidates, is rebuking those that wish to limit free speech. This is certainly a Constitutional issue.

7. Trump supports the balance of powers within the government
When Trump speaks of repealing the executive orders promulgated by Obama is saying he wants to restore the balance of power between the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government. Trump realizes that his programs will take bills passed by congress. That is why he has said that he wants a Vice President that is familiar with the legislative process. He is not planning to just institute his agenda by fiat. That is a Constitutional issue.

8. Trump wants to protect us from all enemies foreign and domestic.
Trumps position on trade is actually a Constitutional issue. One of the, perhaps the foremost duties of the government is to protect the citizens of the United States from all enemies foreign and domestic. Unjust agreements that cost US citizen their jobs, that undermine the economy of the US that surrender sovereignty should be be viewed as acts of an enemy that the citizens should be Constitutionally protected from. It is evil for China, South Korea, France, Mexico Luxemburg or the Romulans, Klingons and Vulcans for that matter to dump products below cost in the US and destroy the US economy. Citizens have a right to be protected from predatory trade masquerading as “Free Trade.”

Trump has also talked at length about military preparedness. Unlike Hillary he understands the value of a powerful military in preserving peace and ensuring prosperity

9. Negotiating treaties is the prerogative of the president.
By saying that he wants to renegotiate bad treaties Trump would simply be claim his Constitutional authority.

10. By opposing the Federally all but mandated “Common Core” school curriculum Trump has shown that he is in favor of limiting the reach and power of the Federal Government. Common Core is a bad pedagogical approach. People that research pedagogy know what works and the approach, never mind the content, of Common Core is a disaster and would be even if the content were not problematic. Notice that Trump has said that he wants to not just abolish Common Core but return the selection of pedagogy to the local level. Hello 10th Amendment. This is a Constitutional issue.

11. The moratorium on immigrants from Islamic countries
This is, to me constitutional because I am not a left wing jingoist. I believe the rights and responsibilities granted to citizens of the United States stop at the edge of the water. People in other countries do not fall under the protection of the US Bill of Rights and the Constitution. We may believe that our rights are inalienable but many do not and we have a right to protect ourselves and our Constitution from those whop do not appreciate, honor or respect our values. We do not have to let people within our borders that we suspect wish to harm us.

While Trump does generally not call these issue Constitutional they are obviously Constitutional issues if you look at them. While some of these are more clear cut than others I believe that if you look at the Trump campaign and take a moment to think about it you can see that most of the issues he talks about are actually grounded in Constitutional ideas.

I am not a legal scholar. These thoughts are my own.