National security rating #1: Biden and Trump on defending the Constitution

Of the 10 main issues the Center for Security Policy has identified for its 2020 National Security Voter Guide, commitment to the Constitution ranks #1.

This piece marks the first of 10 articles to explain how the Center evaluated the national security records of President Donald Trump and his challenger, former vice president Joe Biden.

“Support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic” is part of the oath of office for every federal official. Article VI of the Constitution requires an oath.

The oath is not to protect the nation-state, the country, the government, or even the American people, but the Constitution itself. The oath is the cornerstone of American defense and national security, for without the Constitution, we have no country. And so we rate adherence to the federal oath of office as the top national security candidate criteria for 2020.

Originally, the oath was simply a pledge to “support” the Constitution. As noted in the Washington Post five years ago, “The Civil War changed that, though, with oaths during and afterwards mandating or implying an oath of loyalty to the Union and against insurrection.”

The oath shows that all federal officials recognize that enemies of the Constitution are not only foreign threats to the nation at large, but are also domestic enemies – including American citizens. These domestic enemies seek to subvert or overthrow the Constitution from within.

Both Trump and Biden have taken the oath.

Joe Biden. As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and as vice president, Joe Biden built a record of being a constitutional revisionist, and not as a constitutionalist. He took a flexible view of the Constitution, supporting judges and justices who kept redefining its meaning and application and expanding central big government power. He tended toward policies that expanded the power of the central government at the expense of the states. There is no memory or record of Biden using the committee to require the FBI to return to its legal role of monitoring domestic enemies of the Constitution.

During the 2020 campaign, Biden has not disclaimed the support of those who explicitly do advocate the overthrow of the Constitution, so he has, in effect, contravened his oath. During the campaign, Biden and his political allies – offering no credible evidence – accused Trump of harboring dictatorial intentions. Biden and others went so far as to suggest that Trump will have to be removed from office by military force. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared Trump and his Republican supporters to be “domestic enemies” of the Constitution – an unprecedented, scripted, extremist abuse to which Biden consented with silence.

Donald Trump. In 2020, Trump has faced two national emergencies – the pandemic and the Antifa/BLM insurrection – that allowed him extraordinary executive powers to impose on the nation.

Trump mused publicly about many options. At first he appeared uncertain about how to use his powers in both extreme situations. He took short-term actions in several directions, but ultimately opted to limit his legal powers by following the principles of the Founding Fathers. Rather than abuse the Constitution by centralizing power, Trump purposefully left it to the states to determine their own anti-pandemic and anti-insurrection policies, and provided federal aid and reimbursements for the states to request as they saw fit.

Support and defend the Constitution verdict – Trump: Strong. Biden: Weak.