We need to call Trump out when he goes against our principles

We need to be honest with one another. I want to maintain my independence in regards to President Donald Trump. And we need to be consistent because the Democrats are not.

The worst instincts of Donald Trump are his tendency to go for showmanship over substance. And in my opinion he has a strong streak of authoritarianism backed by hubris.

Related: Donald Trump and populist promises

I was disturbed when Trump, while talking to a group of sheriffs, joked about destroying a senator’s career. The senator was against civil assets forfeiture, which is often wildly abused. Everyone laughed, but I don’t think the destroying-a-career comment was really a joke.

I don’t think Donald Trump knows a damn thing about civil assets forfeiture, but he knows about pandering and he always wants to be on the side of law enforcement. But these forfeitures have even been used against people who have been found innocent. And then people have to fight to get their money and assets back.

Trump’s instinct to talk about ruining someone’s career when he doesn’t even know what he’s talking about really disturbs me.

It is the job of people who pushed the Trump train and supported him to stand up against the president when he says or does things that we fundamentally disagree with. We need to be consistent with our principles.

As always, please listen to the full audio clip for complete context.