President Donald Trump pandered to his cult of supporters on Tuesday morning by declaring that he has authorized use of a federal law to arrest and imprison people who bring down statues or monuments, presumably those dedicated to the Confederacy.

Racist statues and monuments are being torn down across the country by Americans who are sick and tired of the bigotry and distorted history they represent. That’s why many Confederate monuments have been brought down.

But Trump, of course, opposes the removal of these statues and monuments because his supporters are racists.

So, he pretended to do something about it.

The problem is that this law has already been in effect because it’s a law. Trump had nothing to do with it, nor can he sentence anyone to prison because he’s not a judge or jury. Furthermore, people have been arrested for vandalism before today — they didn’t need Trump’s bogus declaration to have the “authority” to enforce a law.

Also, since many of these Confederate monuments and statues are state or local property, this federal law does not apply and cannot be used to intimidate or punish Americans. And again, they have their own laws already in effect.

Twitter users mocked Trump for pretending he’s a dictator.

If Trump were a real president, he would understand that he doesn’t get to declare when laws are in effect or not. He would also know when such laws can be applied.

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