Washington Post critic declares Trump should ‘never’ get presidential library, urges Congress to block efforts
A Washington Post critic is asking for laws stopping former President Donald Trump from having his personal presidential library.
In a chunk revealed Thursday headlined: “Trump wants a library. He must never have one,” Post artwork and structure critic Philip Kennicott acknowledged that whereas Trump should still be standard in some components of the nation the place he can have “airports, bridges and schools” named after him, he “must never have an official presidential library, and Congress should move quickly to make sure he never will.”
Kennicott predicted that Trump’s pursuit of a presidential library will “cause further damage to the country.”
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“That is why Congress should use this moment to reconsider the legislation that helped create and shape the presidential libraries now administered by the National Archives, not just to prevent Trump from perpetrating one last, giant grift, but to reform the system so it serves the country better,” Kennicott defined. “This is long overdue, and would need to be done even if Trump weren’t trying to raise $2 billion for a Trump center. But his intention to do so makes this urgent, even an issue of national security.”
The National Archives and Records Administration’s Office of Presidential Libraries administers the libraries of each former president from Herbert Hoover to George W. Bush. In addition to serving as vacationer sights, the libraries function repositories for papers, information and different supplies belonging to the chief government.
According to Kennicott, Trump “should be afforded no discretion over his records or any privilege to extend the amount of time before the public can see them.” He then cited Richard Nixon’s efforts to protect his legacy after he resigned due to the Watergate scandal.
“The danger of Trump using a presidential library to burnish his image is far more serious, with the ex-president and his surrogates still promoting the idea that his electoral loss was somehow fraudulent,” the critic wrote. “That creates an ongoing uncertainty in American public life, which Trump and even more unscrupulous actors will use to further division, inflame tension, exacerbate racism and delegitimize the American democratic system.
“So even a privately funded and operated Trump presidential library, which might be devoted to whitewashing his file and rewriting historical past, is a horrible and even harmful thought. Further, given Trump’s alleged misuse of charitable funds, together with self-dealing, waste and different unlawful actions, at his now dissolved New York-based basis, any intention to begin one other public entity can solely be thought-about a criminal offense scene ready to occur.”
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Kennicott went on to write: “The extent to which he and his administration destroyed information and communicated outdoors of federal techniques is unknown, which is why he and his individuals should be minimize out of the method of preserving these paperwork.
“And Americans should shame anyone — including architecture firms, exhibit designers and corporate donors — who helps Trump perpetuate the lies that nearly destroyed our 244-year-old effort to create a democratically governed republic.”
