Gianforte evades questions about Trump

Since the beginning of June I have written to Rep. Greg Gianforte asking for his position on the following questions: “Is the President above the law? May he crush any investigation into his possible misdeeds? May he pardon himself? Where do you stand on these simple questions?”

I received a delayed boilerplate response many weeks later that refused to engage with whether the President wields the authoritarian power of a monarch, or whether he, like all of us Americans, is subject to the rule of law enshrined in our Constitution.

Regardless of party affiliation, this is simply unacceptable. I wrote back several times trying to get an actual answer to what should be a very straightforward question: Do we live in a Democratic Republic, or an Autocracy? But Congressman Gianforte seemed either unable or unwilling to take a stance of principle and continued to refuse an answer.

We are witnessing a pivotal time in our nation’s history, a time when those whom we’ve elected to lead must excel and demonstrate the virtue and principle that is the lifeblood of our society. We cannot stand behind a man who refuses to stand behind America’s principles, and Rep. Gianforte’s refusal to clarify whether our President has authoritarian power over the law is an abdication of his duty as our democratically elected representative.

I believe that our representative’s have a duty to country over party, and I further believe that they must be answerable to their constituents about their positions, especially on matters that strike to the very marrow of this country’s cohesion. This is simply not the time for a man who cannot take a stand.

This November I hope we can send a message that government is answerable to the people by means of Kathleen Williams’ election.

—Bryce Ross,

Bozeman