President Trump continues to give educators opportunities to teach civics and government.

When he said “it is disgusting that reporters can write whatever they want” because some news story said something not to his liking, I realized how limited his understanding is of basic democratic concepts. We expect presidents to uphold the Constitution; we assume they have read and understand its contents. Trump needs to read the First Amendment to the Constitution, which states that Congress shall not “abridge freedom of speech or of the press.”

His “fake news” assertions are in response to news that is critical of him or portrays him negatively; the real danger behind his reckless attacks is that he sows the seeds of doubt thereby making all stories and all facts relative. He makes himself and his policies immune to a healthy critical discussion. Democracy is imperiled with such an attitude. His assertion that the media is “the enemy of the people” is designed to make himself the arbiter of all information. That is a tactic more suitable to a dictator than to a democratically elected president.

Educators have been given a clear aim: Teach our students the basic tenets of the Constitution and teach them how our governmental institutions were designed to protect, to limit, and to function.

Larry Hoffner, retired