On April 7th at 8:06 A.M., President Donald Trump took to his social media platform Truth Social and wrote, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” This comes just two days after his infamous Easter post, wherein he said that “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in hell.” While certainly not the first time President Trump has delivered less-than-presidential messaging, this recent turn towards genocidal rhetoric is wrong, dangerous, and wholly unbecoming of the Leader of the Free World.
The President of the United States is not a private citizen, but a civil servant empowered to serve and protect all Americans. World leaders and millions of innocent people across the globe take his words seriously. When the President speaks casually about “annihilating” an entire country, that rhetoric carries very real consequences. The normalization of this kind of discourse is dangerous. Talking about destroying entire nations is reckless. Callously dismissing the well-being of the same Iranian people he promised to liberate is inexcusable.
What’s also troubling is seeing so many self-described “libertarians” support an increasingly war hungry posture. A movement built on non-intervention, peaceful collaboration and limited government should not be comfortable with unnecessary wars, civilian casualties, and discussions that gleefully border on war crimes. President Trump has casually threatened mass violence on numerous occasions, and now he has seemingly committed the U.S. Armed Forces to enact it. It’s not a joke, saber rattling or “the art of the deal”. If you support these policies, it is worth considering whether you align with the principles of liberty or the same barbaric imperialism we Americans fought so hard to free ourselves from.
We of the New Jersey Libertarian Party call on President Trump to fulfill the promises he made to the American people. To keep us out of foreign wars, to protect the rights and freedoms of the American people, to end our long history of forced regime changes, and to actually uphold the Constitution. However, if he insists on continuing down the path of despotism, we call on Congress to do all within its power to restore law, order, and individual freedoms to these United States. Read the Constitution. The answers are there.
In Liberty,
The New Jersey Libertarian Party
Bruno Pereira
Chair, New Jersey Libertarian Party