Washington Post editorial board warns Trump: No one is above the law, not even the president

The Washington Post editorial board wrote a scathing response to President Trump’s celebration over the the ouster of former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, calling Trump a “nasty, small-minded despot.” 

Trump took to Twitter early Saturday to celebrate McCabe being fired after over 20 years at the bureau, claiming it was a “great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI – a great day for democracy.” 

Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI – A great day for Democracy. Sanctimonious James Comey was his boss and made McCabe look like a choirboy. He knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 17, 2018

The Washington Post said in an opinion on Saturday that Trump’s behavior stood out as bullying. 

“Mr. Trump acts like a nasty, small-minded despot, not the leader of a democracy more than two centuries old in which rule of law is a sturdy pillar. If there is doubt that the timing of Mr. McCabe’s dismissal was driven by political vengeance, Mr. Trump does everything he can to prove the worst with his own sordid words.” 

Trump did not speak like the leader of the United States but as a  tyrant from a “banana republic” like Azerbaijan, Cambodia or Turkey. 

“In nations without a strong democratic foundation, tyrants cling to power by belittling perceived enemies and insulting and co-opting other institutions, such as a free press, law enforcement and the military, coercing them into subservience,” the editorial board wrote. 

McCabe’s fate at the FBI apparently hung in the balance of a Justice Department inspector general’s report that hasn’t been made public yet. 

But the Post argued that Trump is trying to capitalize on that report to silence McCabe’s potential testimony in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the possible obstruction of justice Trump committee when he fired McCabe’s former boss, James Comey. 

“Now the president has attempted to discredit, and lauded the punishment of, a potential witness against him, an affront to the integrity and independence of law enforcement,” the Post wrote. 

Trump jumped on McCabe with “unseemly ferocity” but contrary to Trump’s tweet, the hardworking men and women of the FBI are far more distinguished for their fairness.

“In fact, the hardworking men and women of the FBI, the Justice Department, the intelligence agencies and elsewhere in government come to work every day to uphold the values of a democratic system based on rule of law — a system that is distinguished by the simple principle that everyone is judged fairly, not by grudge or whim, and that no one is above the law, not even the president.”