IF PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP truly wants to win the trust and support of most Americans, and not just his most loyal fan base, then he should listen to the voice of most Americans who do not approve of the way he has been responding to the probe that investigates the alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
According to the latest poll by CBS News, 63 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump’s response to the Russia investigation, with a third of Americans expressing that his handling of the Russia probe has worsened their opinion of him.
This could even factor in a dip of Trump’s job approval rating. The president now has only 36 percent approval rating, compared to the late April polling of CBS News when he had a 41 percent approval rating among Americans.
The CBS News poll further reveals that most people in both parties — 56 percent — have expressed confidence in Special Counsel Robert Mueller as the head of the independent team investigating the Trump-Russia connection. They believe the investigation will be impartial and that Trump should not attempt to stop it.
This study should be an eye-opener for the president that what he has been doing is self-destructive. If he has nothing to hide, then he should let Mueller and the U.S. intelligence community do their job in getting to the bottom of this, instead of denigrating and undermining the investigation, the investigators, the U.S. intelligence agencies who are doing their job for the safety and security of the country.
What is also hard to fathom is why President Trump, who claims to take seriously his obligation to protect the United States of America, appears to be more concerned about his own image and interests than Russia’s attack against the democracy of the United States.
During Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s press briefing on Tuesday, June 20, he could not categorically answer the question as to whether Trump agrees Russia has interfered in the 2016 presidential election. It is a fact supported by the findings of the U.S. Intelligence community and by both sides of the political aisle in the U.S. House and Senate Intelligence Committees. Spicer said he and the president have not talked about this issue yet. Seriously?
This corroborates the statement of Trump’s own Attorney General Jeff Sessions who, in his testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, said under oath that he “did not recall” any meeting whereby the president expressed concern or even curiosity about Russia’s meddling the election last year. Really?
To top off Trump’s lack of interest in Russia’s assault on our democratic institutions: he fired FBI Chief James Comey, who then delivered a testimony under oath before the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Among other revealing testimonies, Comey said Trump never once asked him about Russia’s meddling in the U.S. election in the context of national security up until he fired Comey in early May.
PRESIDENT Donald Trump should not just listen to those who approve of him and think the Russia investigation is not serious.
He should not just listen to those who believe in him blindly when he plays the victim role, tweeting that this is “the single greatest WITCH HUNT in American political history.”
He should not just listen to his Cabinet members who praise, glorify and give him the highest honors during meetings in front of television cameras. These members should have the testicular fortitude to speak the truth to him and advise him of which actions are not helping his cause.
The American people deserve, expect, and demand transparency and accountability from public officials, especially from the President of the United States.
* * *
Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos
