WASHINGTON – As Donald Trump pushes to expand his presidential powers to autocrat-like levels, he has at his side a top aide who makes his own over-the-top pronouncements sound downright tame.
Stephen Miller has accused federal judges, including those appointed by Republican presidents, of taking part in a “judicial coup.” He calls the opposition Democratic Party a “domestic extremist organization.” He labels protesters in U.S. cities “terrorists” — the same designation he and Trump have applied to the 21 people and counting whom Trump has summarily killed on boats in the Caribbean.
In speeches that often devolve into comical bravado, he repeatedly invokes the powers of Trump and his executive branch, even in areas that have historically been the responsibility of local and state government.
“You know the gang bangers that you deal with, they think that they’re ruthless,” he told law enforcement officials in Memphis earlier this month. “They have no idea how ruthless we are. They think they’re tough. They have no idea how tough we are. They think that they’re hardcore. We are so much more hardcore than they are, and we have the entire weight of the United States government behind us. What do they have? They have nothing behind them.”
