By Sylvester Brown Jr.
Donald Trump recently told a large audience that he hates his opponents — a startling admission for a president of the United States, who represents all citizens.
The remarks came at a memorial service last Sunday in Glendale, Arizona, for assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk, following words from his widow, Erika.
Trump praised Kirk’s “noble spirit” but then veered into his own views.
“He did not hate his opponents. He wanted the best for them,” Trump said. “That’s where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponent, and I don’t want the best for them. I’m sorry. I am sorry, Erika. But now Erika can talk to me and the whole group and maybe they can convince me that that’s not right. But I can’t stand my opponent.”
In a social media post, Trump also urged U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, the country’s top law enforcement official, to more aggressively investigate his political adversaries. “We can’t delay any longer,” he wrote. “It’s killing our reputation and credibility.”
Randall Calvert, professor emeritus of political science at Washington University, said such statements are virtually unprecedented. “There’s only been a couple of presidents who have openly expressed contempt for their opponents,” he said, pointing to former President Herbert Hoover, who disparaged Franklin D. Roosevelt after Hoover left office, and President Andrew Jackson, who publicly sniped at his predecessor, John Quincy Adams.
“But those were rare and remarkable events because you’re not supposed to hate your political opponents, right?” Calvert said.
He added that Trump’s directive to Bondi — to specifically investigate former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff, who oversaw his first impeachment trial — broke long-established expectations.
“Let’s call it a ‘norm,’ an informal rule,” Calvert explained. “It says that criminal prosecutions should be pursued independently of political influence. If you’re going to have free and fair elections, you can’t have presidents — or any other kind of elected official — using the powers of government to attack their opponents. That’s always been recognized as wrong.”
Calvert noted that this principle was codified in the wake of the Watergate scandal during former President Richard Nixon’s administration in the 1970s.
“Both Democratic and Republican leaders realized one of the terrible things Nixon did was make them all look bad and erode public support for government. He tried to use the Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service to prosecute his political enemies, and that became public knowledge,” Calvert said. “Rules were formalized to carefully control the contact between the White House’s upper levels and the Department of Justice’s upper levels.”
Kirk was fatally shot Sept. 10 while addressing a large outdoor audience at Utah Valley University. The 22-year-old suspect, Tyler Robinson, is being held without bail. He faces several charges, including aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm and obstruction of justice.
Trump’s comments were a stark contrast to what Kirk’s wife told the audience. Despite a litany of racist, misogynistic and homophobic statements Kirk made over the years, she described her husband as a man of God devoted to helping young people — particularly young men — find purpose and faith rather than anger and despair.
“He knew things were not right with America — especially with young people. And they needed a new direction,” she told the crowd of tens of thousands, before adding that she forgives the man accused of killing her husband. “I forgive him because it is what Christ did. The answer to hate is not hate.”
For Calvert, the broader implications of Trump’s remarks remain troubling.
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