THE REPUBLICAN’S GUIDE TO PRESIDENTIAL ETIQUETTE
BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD OCT. 8, 2017
Republicans used to care a whole lot about how a president comported himself, and whether he acted at all times with the dignity his station demands.
“Is President Obama Disrespecting the Oval Office?” Fox News asked in 2010, with a link to images of Mr. Obama and his aides tossing a football, or eating apples just inches from the Resolute desk.
“Wear a suit coat and tie,” said Andrew Card Jr., President George W. Bush’s former chief of staff, in reaction to pictures of Mr. Obama in shirtsleeves in 2009.
“I do expect him to send the message that people who are going to be in the Oval Office should treat the office with the respect that it has earned over history,” Mr. Card said.
But hey, that was then! In 2017, there’s a whole new bar for tolerable conduct by the commander in chief. Our original guide cataloged several dozen examples. Almost five months later, it’s clear that an update is necessary. This expanded list is meant to ensure that Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell and other congressional Republicans never forget what they now condone in a president.
So, if you are the president, you may:
Mock a foreign leader with a demeaning nickname and threaten his country with nuclear annihilation over Twitter
Call for the firing of "son of a bitch" athletes who choose to exercise their right to free speech
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Refer to the White House as “a real dump”
Spend the weekend golfing at your private club while the mayor of an American city wades through sewage-filled water to help citizens after a catastrophic hurricane, then accuse that mayor of “poor leadership” when she criticizes your administration’s slow response to the storm
Criticize victims of that hurricane still living without drinking water or electricity by saying they want everything to be done for them”
During a visit to some of those victims,through rolls of paper towels at them and tell them they should be “very proud” that only 16 people have died so far, unlike in a “real catastrophe”
Attack a senator battling terminal cancer
Pick nominees to the federal bench who call a sitting Supreme Court justice a “judicial prostitute” and refer to transgender children as part of “Satan’s plan”
Campaign hard for a Senate candidate; then when he appears likely to lose, say “I might have made a mistake” and later delete your tweets supporting him
Behave so erratically and irresponsibly that senators of your own party resort to saying you're treated like an adult day care student to keep you from starting World War III
Spend one of every three days as president visiting at least one of your own properties
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Publicly and privately humiliate your own attorney general for recusing himself from an investigation into your campaign
Say nothing when a foreign leader’s bodyguards brutally attack peaceful protesters in the streets of Washington, D.C.
Tweet GIFs of yourself violently attacking the media and your former political opponent
Encouragepolice officers not to be “too nice” when apprehending criminal suspects
Deliver a speech to the Boy Scouts of America that includes mockery of a former president and winking references to sexual orgies, and thenlie by claiming that the head of that organization called and told you it was the best speech ever delivered in Boy Scout history
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Hang aframed copy of a fake Time magazine cover celebrating your business acumen in your golf clubs around the world
Mock a female television anchor’s appearance, saying the anchor was “bleeding badly from a face-lift” at a holiday gathering at your private resort
Force your cabinet members to take turns extolling your virtues in front of television cameras
Welcome into the Oval office a man who threatened to assassinate your predecessor, whom he called a “subhuman mongrel,” and who referred to your political opponent as a “worthless bitch”
Continue to deny that Russia attempted to influence the presidential election, despite the consensus of the American intelligence community — and yet also blame your predecessor for not doing anything to stop that interference
Grant temporary White House press credentials to a website that, among other things, claims that Sept. 11 was an “inside job” and that the massacre of 20 schoolchildren in Newtown, Conn., was a hoax
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Block people who criticize you on Twitter
Cklaim that an investigation into your campaign’s possible collusion with a foreign power is “the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!”
Pressure multiple intelligence chiefs to state publicly that there was no collusion between your presidential campaign and the Russian government
Without consulting anyone at the Pentagon, announce a new policy barring transgender soldiers from serving in the military
Pardon a former sheriff who was convicted of criminal contempt of court for refusing to obey the law
Continue to repeat, with admiration, a false story about an American military general committing war crimes
Mock the mayor of a world city for his careful, sober response to a terrorist attack
Tell Americans that a march of torch-carrying white supremacists and neo-Nazis includes "some very fine people" — and when one of those marchers murders a peaceful counterprotester,condemn violence on “both sides”
Run an administration whose ethical standards have, in the words of the federal government’s top ethics enforcer, made the United States “close to a laughingstock”
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Hide data that don’t support your pre-existing policy preferences
Admit to trying to intimidate a key witness in a federal investigation
Leave hundreds of executive branch positions unfilled
Profit off the presidency, accepting millions of dollars from foreign government officials, businesses, politicians and other supporters who pay a premium to patronize your properties and get access to you — while also attempting to hide the visitor lists at some of those properties from the public
Promise to drain the swamp, then quietly grant ethies waivers to multiple former industry lobbyists who want to work in your administration
Tell a lie, on average,more than five times a day
Call for criminal investigations of your former political opponent, seven months after winning the election
Appoint your family wedding planner to head a federal housing office
Shove aside a fellow head of state at a photo-op
Attackprivate citizens on Twitter
Delegitimize federal judges who rule against you
Refuse to take responsibility for military actions gone awry
Hire the F.B.I. chief in the middle of his expanding investigation into your campaign and your associates
Accuse a former president, without evidence, of an impeachable offense
Employ top aides with financial and other connections to a hostile foreign power
Blame the judiciary, in advance, for any terror attacks
Call the media “the enemy of the American people”
Demand personal loyalty from the F.B.I. director
Threaten the former F.B.I. director
Accept foreign payments to your businesses, in possible violation of the Constitution
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Occupy the White House with the help of a hostile foreign power
Intimidate congressional witnesses
Allow White House staff members to use their personal email for government business
Neglect to fill thousands of crucial federal government positions for months
Claim, without evidence, that millions of people voted illegally
Hail to fire high-ranking members of your national security team for weeks, even after knowing they lied to your vice president and exposed themselves to blackmail
Refuse to release tax returns
Hide the White House visitors’ list from the public
Vacation at one of your private residences nearly every weekend
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Use an unsecured personal cellphone
Criticize specific businesses for dropping your family members’ products
Review and discuss highly sensitive intelligence in a restaurant, andallowthe Army officer carrying the “nuclear football” to be photographed and identified by name
Obstruct justice
Hire relatives for key White House posts, and let them meet with foreign officials and engage in business at the same time
Promote family businesses on federal government websites
Collude with members of Congress to try to shut down investigations of you and your associates
Threaten military conflict with other nations in the middle of news interviews
Compare the U.S. intelligence community to Nazis
Displaycomplete ignorance about international relations , your own administrations policies, American history and the basic structure of our system of government
Skip daily intelligence briefings
Repeat untruths
Share highly classified information with a hostile foreign power without the source’s permission
