This Missouri lawmaker thinks now would be a good time to honor Trump — is she serious?
At a pivotal moment in the country’s history — when even some Republicans, including a number of Donald Trump’s loyal allies, agree that he is too dangerous to hold office — a Missouri GOP lawmaker thinks the time is right to celebrate a president who incited a riot.
On the same day that a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol, Missouri state Rep. Mary Elizabeth Coleman pushed forward with legislation that would honor the disgraced president.
Given a chance later to denounce Trump’s indefensible actions and abandon efforts to pass her bill, Coleman, a Republican from Arnold, doubled down.
Coleman wants a stretch of Interstate 55 in Jefferson County named after Trump. The only thing worse than the idea itself is Coleman’s timing. And House Bill 674 should go nowhere in the Missouri legislature.
“I, along with millions of Missourians, voted for President Trump, and I will continue my push to rename a portion of I-55 in his honor,” Coleman said in a statement. “Renaming a highway is a fairly standard honor that has been bestowed upon past presidents who did far less.”
Of course, there has been nothing fairly standard about the last four years or the administration of the only U.S. president to be impeached twice.
Why would any public servant seek to laud a man who egged on a coup attempt, exhorting supporters to “fight like hell”? Trump has spent every day since Nov. 3 trying to undermine the results of a free and fair election, and he’s culpable for the deadly chaos that has resulted. Blood was shed during the assault on the Capitol. People died. And our democratic institutions were attacked from the inside.
“The thought of honoring Donald Trump after he incited an insurrection at the United States Capitol is beyond tone-deaf,” Missouri Democratic Party Chair Michael Butler said. “It’s absolutely ridiculous.”
Five people died during the violent confrontation at the Capitol that put the lives of members of Congress in peril. Even Coleman admits that last week’s violence was completely unacceptable.
Coleman’s push to honor Trump would be laughable if it weren’t so contemptible, a nakedly political gambit launched by a lawmaker who has spoken about running for statewide office.
“Wednesday’s events did not change my position that President Trump should be honored for his accomplishments over the last four years,” Coleman said of last week’s riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Even if one could somehow overlook the impeachable offenses committed by the president — and one should not, of course — there is no case to be made for Trump doing right by Missouri. The president’s failed trade wars have hurt farmers in this state, and his abdication of responsibility for developing a national strategy to contain the coronavirus has cost lives and crippled businesses across Missouri.
Trump has shown the world the worst of America and has made it clear that he has no respect for the will of the voters.
Missouri should not dishonor the state or any of its roads by naming a highway after a one-term president who has sullied the office.