On September 5th, The New York Times published an anonymous opinion piece from a person claiming to be a senior white house official that harshly criticized President Trump and stated that White House officials are actively working against his agenda. 

It is unprecedented for an anonymous piece such as this to be published, and due to the respectable reputation of The New York Times it is fair to believe this piece is legitimate. As if Trump’s week hadn’t been bad enough already, the release of this piece coincides with the release of Bob Woodward’s Fear, a book that blasts the Trump presidency and reveals some of the chaos inside the White House. 

Chief of Staff John Kelly has already taken to referring to the White House as “crazytown” and he’s not the only one leveling complaints at the president. According to Woodward, back in January Trump questioned why the US had a military presence in South Korea and Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis commented that “the president acted like — and had the understanding of — a ‘fifth or sixth grader.’” 

Woodward’s claims are strengthened by the anonymous piece that states that white house staff are not only working to sabotage Trump’s agenda but also considered invoking  the 25th amendment to have him removed from office. The anonymous staff member claims that Trump’s behavior is erratic and that he constantly flip flops on policies and that staff members have to actively keep information away from him since they fear that he will react rashly. 

Of course, these reports should be taken with a grain of salt but it should be kept in mind that they come from credible sources. Not to mention some of Trump’s other recent issues such as his downright embarrassing performance at the Helsinki Summit and the investigation into Russian collusion, which he has attempted to stop but his attorney general Jeff Sessions shut him down. Trump being quick to anger and even quicker to lash out isn’t helping him out right now either. 

So, is our president fit to lead? Is our country safe under a man like this? Can we put our trust in a president like this? Short answer: no. Long answer: definitely not. 

However, we believe that this anonymous piece has some potentially harrowing implications. Before we go into this, we want to make it clear that PC Bros is an explicitly anti-Trump column. The one thing we will give Trump is that he is anti-establishment and in an age where young people are becoming increasingly anti-establishment that’s a positive. It’s beginning to feel as if a lot of anti-Trump actions coming from prominent Democrats and Republicans is also pro-establishment rhetoric. 

By remaining anonymous, the author of the New York Times essay is only making the divide in Washington and the nation worse. Without knowing the author’s identity, it will be impossible for many of the president’s most ardent supporters accept the claims put forth in the essay as true. 

Additionally, by claiming that there were whispers amongst the cabinet of invoking the 25th amendment, the author has shown that although they do not support what Trump is doing, they don’t feel strongly enough to remove him from office. This lack of conviction raises questions about how bad Trump really is. If he is truly unfit for office, then his cabinet should have the courage to stand up and remove him from office. If not, then they should not put out information that can make the President’s job harder, as well as worsen the uncertainty and hysteria currently surrounding the Trump White House. 

Some of the details provided in the essay also raise ethical questions. Should unelected government officials be able to remove documents or other legislation from the desk of a President elected by the people? No. 

It doesn’t matter if you like what you see on his desk or not, there is something fundamentally wrong with unelected officials undermining the will of a President chosen to represent the voters of the United States. The acceptance of this type of behavior does not bode well for the future of our republic and its democratic institutions. We cannot deny that Trump being unaware of these activities going on raises separate questions about his aptitude. However, these concerns do not justify the actions of the unknown members of his cabinet. We hope that if what has been said in the essay is true that the anonymous administration official will have the courage to risk his position in order to stand up to the President and show the American people the severity of the situation.

The 2016 election and the rise of radical groups like the alt-right show that our traditional two-party system is in hot water and it feels as if both parties are taking advantage of the current chaos in the White House to encourage Americans not vote for anti-establishment candidates. The reason that we feel this must be brought up is that the anonymous piece that The New York Times published also serves as establishment Republican propaganda. 

In between its criticisms of the President, the piece promotes traditional Republican values and paints the Republican officials sabotaging Trump as heroes trying to “save America” and not those who are simply trying to further the interests of their party. 

What we are saying is that Trump is a buffoon that should not be in office, but at the same time don’t buy too much into the establishment’s “resistance” and don’t be discouraged by Trump to vote for more unique anti-establishment candidates.