On July 22, Donald Trump accepted the Republican party’s nomination for president. Also, everything caught on fire and the world is coming to an end. But seriously, how did we get to this point? Last year this time, very few people took Trump seriously. Most would never have thought we’d be where we are today, with the presidential race coming down to Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. One day, back in October, my mom told me she tried to watch all three hours of one of the Republican debates. So, I read the debate transcripts, the twitter receipts, and listened to the interviews so you don't have to.
1. “I have never gone bankrupt, by the way. I have never.”
—August 6 debate.
2. “We have a president who doesn't have a clue. I would say he's incompetent, but I don't want to do that because that's not nice.”
—August 6 debate.
3. “Jeb doesn't really believe I'm unhinged. He said that very simply because he has failed in this campaign. It's been a total disaster. Nobody cares.”
4. “I know you're trying to build up your energy, Jeb, but it's not working very well.”
5. “But I've been talking about oil for three years. I've been saying,, "take the oil, take the oil." I didn't say, "just bomb it," I said," take it and use it and distribute it so that the wounded warriors -" People, I've been saying this now for many years.”
6. “I think maybe my greatest weakness is that I trust people too much. I’m too trusting. And when they let me down, if they let me down, I never forgive.”
7. “We owe $19 trillion, boy am I good at solving debt problems. Nobody can solve it like me.”
8. “I would say that I would and I have a permit, which is very unusual in New York — a permit to carry. And I do carry on occasion, sometimes a lot. But I like to be unpredictable so that people don’t know exactly…”
9. “ISIS wants to fight Syria. Why are we fighting ISIS in Syria? Let them fight each other and pick up the remnants.”
10. “A woman gets pregnant. She's nine months, she walks across the border, she has the baby in the United States, and we take care of the baby for 85 years. I don't think so.”
11. “I know people that are making a tremendous amount of money and paying virtually no tax, and I think it's unfair.”
12. “Just the other day, two years old, two and a half years old, a child, a beautiful child went to have the vaccine, and came back, and a week later got a tremendous fever, got very, very sick, now is autistic.”
13. “It’s freezing and snowing in New York – we need global warming!”
14. "My IQ is one of the highest — and you all know it! Please don't feel so stupid or insecure; it's not your fault.”
15. “I would bring back waterboarding and I'd bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding.”
I don't know about you, but after reading this, I am both sad (for Jeb Bush), and terrified. Of course, there are many more outrageous and insane things that Trump has said behind closed doors that we probably won't hear. But so far, nothing has stopped him, no matter what he says. So remember, America, we thought he was a joke a year ago, but look where he is now. Look what we let happen. Maybe next time, let's vote for the person who doesn't just say their opinions the loudest, and instead a person who could actual handle being president.
