Trump Should Never Be President of the United States

Democrat Hillary Clinton is presumably the next president of the United States.  She is even expected to take the Oval Office with historic numbers.

According to FiveThirtyEight, which uses statistical analysis to understand elections, Clinton has an 87.3 percent chance of winning the presidency, compared to a 12.6 percent chance for Republican Donald Trump, whose chances dwindle as the election nears.

But, as historic as Clinton’s candidacy is, she would not be on the verge of victory if it were not for Trump’s vapid and doomed candidacy. Clinton couldn’t have asked for a more beatable  opponent.

In emails released by WikiLeaks, it appeared the Clinton campaign had urged the Democratic National Committee to elevate “Pied Piper” Republican candidates like Trump. Her campaign had taken advantage of the reckless GOP candidate. While the DNC may be to blame for Trump, it doesn’t dispel the fact that there are real people in America who believe Trump’s views.

So when Trump emerged as the Republican front runner, the stage was set for the ugliest presidential campaign in modern history — an extremist right-wing candidate with dangerous views against a woman with all the right experiences but who is very mistrusted by many voters.

Undoubtedly, Trump’s candidacy speaks to millions of Americans. Trump supporters are genuinely afraid of change and possibly a better future, but they become afraid when a maniac distorts reality and fills their minds with gross levels of misinformation. However, in an election where Trump has interest in sexually assaulting women, described Mexican immigrants as rapists and murderers and called for an “extreme vetting” of Muslims, he has alienated almost all segments of the population.

It seems that all Clinton needs to do is simply stand by and say nothing.  She has the added advantage of a news media that pays more attention to her opponent.

Less than two weeks before this crucial election, the choice for leadership is reduced to the lesser of two evils — not healthy in such a diverse democracy. How did we get to this? A third party is not an option when a disastrous candidate like Trump has a chance at the White House.

As in all cases, the slightly less malignant of the two evils must emerge — and Clinton is that lesser evil. Trump, who has zero experience in any type of publicly elected office setting, inherently represents the greater evil. However, Clinton has many flaws that voters should make her aware of if she is elected president.

Trump’s view to “Make America Great Again” is a lazy approach to fixing the issues this country is facing. When pressed on exactly how America can be made great again, Trump’s supporters often choke and offer nothing, just like their candidate Trump who doesn’t always know what “great” actually means.

Trump’s behavior and rhetoric has encouraged people to display racist views. He is reviving America’s racist past.

Trump’s demagoguery is destructive and divisive. He says a judge cannot do his legal duty because he is Mexican. He openly condemns innocent immigrants while refusing to condemn violent, white supremacists supporting him. He allows a black person to be beaten up at his rally for protesting his racist views and he uses stereotypes to describe Jewish people.

Trump exhibits an abhorrent core and has disproven the many who have tried to justify his words or actions. Trump’s own supporters are often at a loss on how to explain or justify his words or comments. At times, it doesn’t make sense to even begin to try.

Trump says he will be the best “jobs president,” vowing to create 25 million new jobs.

“You watch, it’ll happen,” he said during a lunchtime meeting in September where he announced his economic plan, according to a Politico report.

But how can Trump truly promise to create jobs when he himself is responsible for profiting from overseas labor instead of products made in America?

According to the Washington Post, Donald J. Trump collection shirts and suits, as well as eyeglasses and  perfume, are made in Bangladesh, China, Honduras and many other countries where workers are paid low wages.

Trump is a danger to the working class. He claims to be against world trade deals, yet he manages to find himself trading products made in other countries. Trump also claims he can change the laws that allow outsourcing, saying in a debate that “nobody knows it better than me.”

Trump thinks Americans are fools and he cannot be trusted as someone to change laws when he openly admits to taking advantage of laws for personal gain. He doesn’t take Americans or their issues seriously.

Trump even contradicts himself on issues he claims are important. During the first debate, but not limited to it, Trump insisted he did not claim on Twitter that climate change was a hoax perpetuated by the Chinese. A post from 2012 on his Twitter account, stating exactly that, proves otherwise. He even contradicted his own words when he denied saying Japan and Saudi Arabia should be allowed to hold nuclear weapons. The world is not safe under a Trump presidency and America is poised to lose its place in the world if a non-leader like him becomes president.

Perhaps Trump doesn’t understand the hazards of nuclear weapons, but he has flirted with the idea of using nuclear weapons as simply as the Obama administration has operated its drone strikes in the Middle East. Trump is very mistaken and his decisions could be catastrophic and inherently make America and the world a much, much less safe place if nuclear weapons become a way of dealing with enemies.

Trump has proven to be much more menacing than the innocent immigrants he bashes. His claims that Syrian immigrants allowed in the U.S. are linked to ISIS are as absurd as his claims that he can fix this country. For example, his plan to build a wall on the country’s border with Mexico is continually undermined by the fact that Mexico will never pay for such a wall.

After a rare visit to Mexico during his presidential campaign, Trump insisted that he had spoken with Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto about payment for the wall. But Nieto later announced Mexico would indeed not be paying for the wall. Trump’s promises are damaging to his supporters, who seek real solutions to fixing a broken immigration system.

Trump doesn’t show bipartisan leaning toward a comprehensive reform of the country’s immigration policy. He only spills his raw, and often ridiculous, opinions on the matter and encourages his supporters even when his positions may not be realistic.

His plan to cut the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which gives eligible immigrants a temporary legal work permit, is a threat to the progress the Obama administration has made in immigration reform. But, nothing is more ludicrous than the notion that over 12 million undocumented immigrants will be deported.

In all of his speeches, he never acknowledges that a good portion of these undocumented immigrants did not come from Mexico and his approach to return people to their native countries may not only cost the country a fortune, but will sever relationships with foreign countries.

Fifty-two percent of undocumented immigrants are from Mexico according to Pew Research. That means that the other half of undocumented immigrants come from dozens of other countries throughout the world.

During a recent visit to Fresno, Trump’s speech on issues of importance to the Central Valley was too general and lacking in specificity; it mostly dealt with whipping the crowd into a frenzy about ways to deal with Clinton.

He came across as either ignorant or willfully dismissive of critical concerns. For example, he stated outright that California did not have a drought and that claims are fictitious.  

Currently, the state of California classifies the state in “exceptional drought,” with the entire state facing some kind of drought. The United States Geological Survey even shows California is in its fifth year of drought; the state was declared in a state of emergency in 2014.

How can a country troubled by climate change elect someone who denies the very issues at its core? Isn’t part of making the country great understanding its challenges? How can Trump lead an effort to fix problems that he won’t even acknowledge?  

In his Fresno visit, his supporters did not realize he does not comprehend the real issues this country faces. Hammered on policy on one side by rival Clinton and forcibly questioned on the other side by the press, Trump is simply not fit to be the commander of this great nation and its people.

During a brief but hoggish visit to a ranch in rural Tulare where supporters paid anywhere from $2,700 and $25,000 to see him, Trump did not publicise an articulate and credible agriculture policy platform.

Maybe, it is the lack of details that keep Trump’s supporters hooked. His website does not even list a position on agriculture even though a Politico report in August revealed Trump had indeed formed an “A-team” on agricultural policy. However, that team also did not have a clear vision.

His childish, but dangerous and indecent behavior is also responsible for his atrocious comments about women. Trump has labeled the natural action of breastfeeding as “disgusting” while minimizing women to “pieces of ass.” He even alleged Clinton could not “satisfy” in reference to her husband’s affair with Monica Lewinsky.

We all want a great country; we cannot elect someone who has shown no understanding of what greatness is all about. Nor can we trust someone who incites violence at rallies and then blames the violence on his opponent. It also means that we should not elect someone with an explosive temperament and who is is easily provoked by comments about his behavior.

Say no to Trump on Nov. 8.