The conflict of interest for President-elect Trump that no one’s talking about

Photo credit: m01229/ Flickr.com

Photo credit: m01229/ Flickr.com

Mark Feinberg, a clinical psychologist and health and human development research professor at Penn State, recently wrote an op-ed about the psychology of President-elect Donald Trump’s moral authority to be commander-in-chief for The Hill. Here’s an excerpt:

Mark Feinberg

Mark Feinberg

“President-elect Donald Trump and his family have exacerbated concerns about conflict of interest complications in the last two weeks. Although many papers and news broadcasts have discussed the multiple difficult problems that the Trump family’s financial empire poses for making presidential decisions in recent days, so far the focus has only been on half the issue.

“The president not only presides as chief executive of the federal government, he is also the commander in chief of the military and responsible for sending American soldiers into harm’s way.

“This presents an urgent problem.

“The moral authority of the president is critical in our democracy: The decisions of the commander in chief must be viewed as legitimate by the citizenry and especially those who serve in the military. When the moral authority of a president-commander declines, there can be serious negative consequences for our military and the security of our country.”

Read more at thehill.com.

In graphics: How Trump conquered the industrial and Democratic heart of the US

Screenshot from a Univision.com article that quoted Penn State Professor Michael Berkman about the 2016 presidential election.

Screenshot from a Univision.com article that quoted Penn State Professor Michael Berkman about the 2016 presidential election.

Michael Berkman, Penn State political science professor and director of the McCourtney Institute for Democracy, was quoted recently in a Univision article about Pennsylvania voters and the presidential election outcome. Here’s an excerpt:

Michael Berkman

Michael Berkman

“During Trump’s repeated visits to the three states, he promised to bring back jobs by canceling free trade treaties, which he blamed for pushing U.S. jobs to other countries. Michael Berkman, a professor at Penn State University, said that ‘definitely there are areas that Trump campaigned harder and had a compelling message.’

“For Ballard and Berkman, the economy was not the only reason for the GOP victory. Trump also had an effective anti-immigration message, and won almost all the counties with white majorities.”

Read more at Univision.com.

‘Comey Effect’: Where Does the FBI Director Stand as Election Dust Settles?

Douglas Charles, associate professor of history at Penn State Greater Allegheny, was quoted recently in an NBC News article about FBI Director James Comey and the 2016 presidential elections. Here’s an excerpt:

“In many ways FBI Director James Comey came out the loser after Tuesday’s presidential election — someone political experts say stands on shaky ground with both political parties after his handling of the probe into former secretary of state Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server.

” ‘I think there could be a lot of focus being directed towards Comey. That’s where the national narrative will now go,’ said Douglas Charles, who has written three books on the FBI and is a professor of history at Pennsylvania State University.

 “And, in that national narrative, Comey is being cast by some as the person who helped upend an election.”
Read more at NBCNews.com.
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