GOP 2016: Electing Indecision
Do you disagree with Donald Trump’s stance on just about everything? Well, so does he.
A master of deception, or perhaps just extremely indecisive, Donald Trump has consistently changed up his political approach to every topic imaginable.
Nonetheless, I find that not enough citizens, know exactly why he’s not actually as credible as he may seem.
Firstly, let’s explore his stance on abortion.
On NBC News in 1999, Trump stresses the fact that he is “strongly for choice… pro-choice in every respect.”
However, during his campaign on Aug. 6, 2015, while giving a speech in Cleveland, he stated he was “very proud to say that [he’s] pro-life.”
Keep in mind, in 1999 Donald Trump was not running for president on behalf of the Republican Party. So at the time, being pro-choice did not cost him any votes. Fast-forward to 2015, he’s pro-life, and extreme conservatism has actually become advantageous for him.
Not only does Trump flip-flop on more than a handful of political issues, he’s unclear about his values on education.
In 2009, before his presidential campaign, he saw, “no value in believing ignorance to be an attribute,” according to his book, “Trump: Think Like a Billionaire.” But the tables have turned — now it’s 2016. He’s got some lower-middle class votes to pull and he “love[s] the poorly educated.”
Also, he confessed to believing in “hate, when it’s appropriate,” and feeling good about “hitting ‘sleazebags’ back,” on Twitter in November of 2012.
However his tone about moral responsibility was the stark opposite on Twitter in June of 2015, encouraging the public to “be tough, be smart, be personable, but don’t take things personally.”
It is possible that Trump simply gained moral ethics within these three years, but that’s pretty convenient considering the timing of his campaign, is it not?
Let us not forget his versatile ethics on women, marriage and family structure.
Trump has made countless sexist comments, not only about women in general, but specifically directed towards his opponent Hillary Clinton.
For example, in April 2015, when he tweeted, “If Hillary Clinton can’t satisfy her husband, what makes her think she can satisfy America?”
Many young voters did not experience Trump in the early 90’s. Therefore, I’ll briefly sum up his previous responses to the media in regards to women: in the Nov. 1992 issue of “New York” magazine, he said, “Women. You have to treat ‘em like s—.” But during his campaign in Aug. 2015 on CBS, he proclaimed, “I will be phenomenal to women. I mean, I want to help women.”
Our prospective president, ladies and gentlemen.
Let’s not forget 2004, when Trump professed his love for his children to “Playboy”, saying, “I think I’m a good father,” only to divulge during “The Howard Stern Show” in 2005, “I won’t do anything to take care of ‘em. I’ll supply funds, and she’ll take care of the kids.”
Excavating this man’s ever-changing beliefs has been interesting to say the least and should shed some light on the various aspects of accountability that will befall our future president. So, when (if) voting, please remember that words, to some people, are fleeting, and hold little or no weight upon actions. Please remember that hypocrisy and deception are not attributes.
I'm a journalism major with a special interest in photojournalism. I'm a sophomore and plan on transferring to CSU Long Beach for the Fall of 2017. I...