Trump's petulant response to the colossal and dismal failure of the first significant test of his Presidency was to callously express his hope that the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) would “explode,” thus paving the way for whatever imaginary legislation he claims could replace it. Left unspoken were the human casualties that would presumably ensue from the “explosion” of legislation designed to preserve Americans’ health, safety and lives:
This type of quasi-psychotic reaction to defeat is typical in malevolent, authoritarian personalities. As World War II came to a close, with Berlin erupting in flames all around him, Hitler ordered his remaining henchmen and generals to obliterate all German infrastructure—all factories, all major buildings, all bridges, the entire skeleton of the country. Known as the Nero Decree, it commanded the destruction of “anything of value” in the Reich, to prevent it from falling into the hands of the victorious Allies. If his delusional visions of an all-powerful, everlasting Germany could not be achieved, it was better in Hitler’s view that the entire nation perish forever. Fortunately Albert Speer disregarded his lunatic Fuhrer and refused to implement this order. Germany survived.
It would appear from Trump’s “explosion” fantasy that Trump would rather have Americans die than face up to his own miserable failure as a President—and as a human being. There’s really no other way to interpret his statement expressing an almost gleeful hope that Americans will suffer and die for their incomprehensible failure to heed his wishes.
Reports have begun to emerge suggesting that both Trump and the GOP now intend to sabotage the Affordable Care Act in an effort to kill it. However, Trump is obligated by his oath of office (whether or not he bothered to pay attention to that oath) to faithfully execute the laws of the United States. That is explicit in Article II of this country’s Constitution, and is known as the “Take Care” Clause:
The President must "take care that the laws be faithfully executed."[24] This clause in the Constitution imposes a duty on the President to enforce the laws of the United States and is called the Take Care Clause,[25] also known as the Faithful Execution Clause[26] or Faithfully Executed Clause.[27] This clause is meant to ensure that a law is faithfully executed by the President [25] even if he disagrees with the purpose of that law.[28] Addressing the North Carolina ratifying convention, William Maclaine declared that the Faithful Execution Clause was "one of the [Constitution's] best provisions."[26] If the President "takes care to see the laws faithfully executed, it will be more than is done in any government on the continent; for I will venture to say that our government, and those of the other states, are, with respect to the execution of the laws, in many respects mere ciphers."[26] President George Washington interpreted this clause as imposing on him a unique duty to ensure the execution of federal law.
The Constitution obligates this President to ensure that the Affordable Care Act is faithfully executed. Failure to do so is a violation of any President’s oath of office, and a violation of the Constitution.
United States Congressman Ted Lieu, (D-CA), communicating in Trump’s preferred vernacular, has clarified this in case there may be some misunderstanding on Trump’s part.
Even more to the point, Lieu correctly characterizes the type of warped mindset that would possess any American—let alone an American President—to make such a statement:
H/T TalkingPointsMemo.