So. Trump said "When somebody is the president of the United States, the authority is total."

This is antithetical to everything conservatives have argued for 50 years. 1/

POTUS cannot take away your free speech or your 2nd amendment rights. He doesn't have the authority to tell you to stay home or leave home. He doesn't have authority to tell states to tell you to either -- and if he managed it, it would require Congressional authorization. 2/

The Trump praetorians will circle around to the fact that Trump ultimately said something about a "situation like this." Okay. The president still doesn't have the authority to close restaurants, schools or Churches OR OPEN THEM. He doesn't have those police powers. 3/

And if any conservative -- including Mike Pence who's dancing as I type this -- says POTUS has anything like those powers they are violating vast swaths of what conservatives claimed to believe before Trump became president. 4/