Arguably nowhere in the United States have Americans been more vulnerable to President Donald Trump’s authoritarian whims than in Washington, D.C., where a submissive, Republican-led Congress has given the president broad latitude to impose his will.
Few political creatures have more starkly underscored the district’s need for statehood than Trump. And that need was made obvious yet again in Washington’s mayoral primary on Tuesday, where the “No Kings” ethos is being put to the test in the nation’s capital. Because Trump’s monarchical pretensions loom over the race after he threatened a federal takeover of Washington if voters elect progressive candidate, self-described democratic socialist and sitting Councilwoman Janeese Lewis George.
“Maybe we’ll take back Washington,” Trump said when asked about the possibility of Lewis George winning. “Run it on a federal basis. We won’t put up with it.”