Core Values as Displayed in President Trump’s Inaugural Address

When any politician — especially a newly-inaugurated President — chooses not even to pay lip service to the core values that animate our Republic (liberty, freedom, rights, the Constitution), I worry.

Yet that is what emerged from today’s inaugural address delivered by President Donald J. Trump.

I did a word search of his address, which was largely recycled from his 2016 campaign stump speeches. This is what I found:

Number of times Donald Trump used these words in his inaugural address:

liberty – 0
rights – 0
constitution – 0
rule of law – 0
freedom(s) – 1
equality – 0
due process – 0
smaller government – 0
limited government – 0
restraint – 0
free enterprise – 0
decree – 1
allegiance – 3
borders – 3

This is not what we would have expected from a Republican president. It certainly bears no resemblance to the sentiment displayed by Ronald Reagan, who is supposed to be the lodestone of Republican, conservative leadership.

If this is what sets the tone for the Trump administration, we have good reason for concern. The values we have held dear are being at best ignored but more likely abandoned.