President Donald Trump does not take well to criticism — at all. This Thursday morning, after facing criticism for his administration’s decision to send federal agents into Portland, Oregon, explicitly against the wishes of local authorities, Trump singled out one of those behind the criticism. On Twitter, he complained about Tom Ridge, who is a former governor of Pennsylvania and, crucially, was the first Secretary of Homeland Security when the department was created in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Ridge is not some kind of liberal activist — he would obviously be in a position to know a thing or two about how the Department of Homeland Security is at least supposed to run — unlike Trump. It’s the Trump goons in Homeland Security who are behind the feds in Portland.
On Twitter early this Thursday morning, Trump posted:
‘Recently watched failed RINO Tom Ridge, former head of Homeland Security, trying to justify his sudden love of the Radical Left Mayor of Portland, who last night was booed & shouted out of existence by the agitators & anarchists. Love watching pathetic Never Trumpers squirm!’
Recently watched failed RINO Tom Ridge, former head of Homeland Security, trying to justify his sudden love of the Radical Left Mayor of Portland, who last night was booed & shouted out of existence by the agitators & anarchists. Love watching pathetic Never Trumpers squirm!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 23, 2020
So, in Trump’s world, it seems as though pretty much everyone who launches even the slightest bit of disagreement with the actions of his administration is automatically some kind of dire political enemy. Trump obviously has one of the most fragile egos in the world — instead of even attempting to engage in some kind of substantive conversation over the policy of sending federal agents to violently confront peaceful protesters in Portland, he’s melting down on Twitter and whining that a critic is “pathetic.”
Ridge originally said:
‘The department was established to protect America from the ever-present threat of global terrorism. It was not established to be the president’s personal militia… And I wish the president would take a more collaborative approach toward fighting this lawlessness than the unilateral approach he’s taken.’
Ridge added that if he was governor, “it would be a cold day in hell before I would consent to an uninvited, unilateral intervention into one of my cities.” Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf — who was not confirmed by the Senate since he’s technically serving in a “temporary” capacity — claimed that he’s “ready to pull my officers out of there if the violence stops,” but they’ve used things as simple as graffiti as an excuse for their presence in the city in the first place. Graffiti is not a justification for paramilitary violence against peacefully protesting Americans.
Check out Twitter’s response to Trump:
