Donald Trump Just Did Something That Hasn't Been Done Since Nixon During the Watergate Scandal

Trump has gone and fired his acting attorney-general after she refused to defend his immigration ban; he accused her of obstructing his agenda for political reasons.

U.S. President Donald Trump has given acting attorney-general, Sally Yates, the sack after she wasn’t convinced his travel ban was lawful.

An attorney-general is basically the chief legal officer of all the states of a country. They serve as public advocates, and have the authority to issue formal opinions to state agencies.

Yates told justice department lawyers not to defend Trump’s executive order to ban travel for people from seven Muslim-majority countries. The White House now insists she “betrayed” the department by refusing to enforce Trump’s orders which were “designed to protect the citizens of the United States”.

Firing Sally Yates is literally Donald Trump showing the precursors to becoming a dictator, he's cutting out anyone in power who opposes him

— ada akpaego 🇳🇬 (@itsmetheHBIC) January 31, 2017

“I am responsible for ensuring that the positions we take in court remain consistent with this institution’s solemn obligation to always seek justice and stand for what is right,” Yates wrote in a letter to justice department lawyers. “At present, I am not convinced that the defense of the executive order is consistent with these responsibilities nor am I convinced the executive order is lawful.”

Trump does have the authority to fire Yates, but it really isn’t often that a president will fire an attorney-general. The last time it happened was in 1973, when then President Richard Nixon dropped his attorney-general and deputy attorney-general after they refused to dismiss the special prosecutor in the Watergate case. (Technically, they resigned.)

If you're going to go out, go out like Sally Yates.#RESISTANCE

— TheNewDeal (@TheNewDeal) January 31, 2017

The White House press secretary office released a statement saying, “Ms Yates is an Obama Administration appointee who is weak on borders and very weak on illegal immigration.”

“It is time to get serious about protecting our country,” it continued.

Things are getting real wild in America. Never been a better time to use the dog-in-a-burning-room meme.

Photo: Twitter (@kcgreenn) and Fox