Two nights ago I decided to put off writing a paper in what I will admit was a bit of an odd way to procrastinate: trying to watch a Donald Trump rally all the way through.

Like anybody on social media these days, my newsfeed is absolutely saturated with clips of Donald Trump. Unlike the full hour Trump usually takes up at his rallies, however, they are usually condensed into a 30 second to two minute clip. This led me to wonder, perhaps if I want to understand why so many people come away from his rallies supporting Donald Trump, I should watch one of his speeches from start to finish.

It is critical that those who disagree with Trump see him as Donald the Man, not Donald the Caricature. As funny as an image of Donald Trump’s screwed up red face or as appalling as a two minute video of his opinions on women may be, they do not adequately prepare us to question or critique the all too real person running for president. One of the most important things I learned from this experience is that short clips of Trump taken out of context don’t do justice to the man. If you really want to feel a sense of dread, watch him all the way through.

About five minutes into the rally, Mr. Trump’s near-masturbatory self-promotion still quite unabated, my assignment began to look more and more attractive. Unable to stomach listening to a man who sounds more like an overconfident standup comedian at an open mic than a presidential candidate go on about how much of a winner he is any longer, I skipped along about 15, then 20 minutes. Finding Mr. Trump describing Brussels as a “hellhole,” I skipped forward another 20 minutes, and to my immense surprise was confronted with an impassioned Trump reading poetry to a rapt audience.

Yes, that’s right, Donald Trump was reading poetry.

The particular poem, taken from a song by singer-songwriter Al Wilson (whose family, unsurprisingly, have asked Mr. Trump to stop using the song), describes a kindhearted woman who upon finding a dying snake, takes it home and nurses it to health only to be bitten soon after. “The Snake” has become something of a personal favorite of Trump’s, to the point that the internet and youtube are practically littered with recordings of several of his dramatic readings. This particular rendition was much like the last. Evidently, Mr. Trump did not intend for his audience to draw any meaning other than his own from the poem.

Before commencing to speak in a manner not unlike a slightly deaf grandparent reading a perverse bedtime story to a child, Mr. Trump directed the audience to “Think about ISIS. Think about the Syrians. Think about what you’re getting. Think about illegal immigration. Just think about it. OK, you ready?”

“The Snake” by Al Wilson is a lively, catchy song. Unfortunately, it does not translate very well as spoken word, at least not when read (well, shouted really) by Donald Trump. His tone is unapologetically malicious, and his emphasis on the word “snake” a little too clear. The worst is definitely the end, which reads:

"I saved you," cried that woman

"And you've bit me even, why?

You know your bite is poisonous and now I'm going to die"

"Oh shut up, silly woman," said the reptile with a grin

"You knew damn well I was a snake before you took me in.”

In this particular version, Trump yells “oh shut up, silly woman” a little too gleefully.

Let me be clear, I have no problem with Donald Trump or any other political candidate using poetry in their campaign. Frankly I think that would make the process a lot more lively. But I do have a problem with Trump using poetry as a means to justify bigotry and dehumanize others, as well as, I suspect, make himself look a bit more cultured. It is hardly surprising that the same man who considers Mexicans rapists and murderers has equated them as well as countless refugees with snakes, but this does not change the fact that this dehumanizing rhetoric is yet another major low for Mr. Trump. He has shown, yet again, that he is not only a bigot, but unfit to lead a power with as much international influence as the United States of America.

Do Trump and his supporters genuinely believe that refugees and immigrants, many of whom are fleeing horrific violence with little more than their lives, are no better than snakes? Perhaps not, but Trump’s rhetoric in recent months gives little reason to doubt that he, at least, probably does. Ironically, it is much more likely that the exact policy Donald Trump would pursue—expelling and controlling immigration and the acceptance of refugees—would lead to further bitterness and violence than lending a hand to people who are genuinely in need of aid and stability. To be frank, in an age of constant international travel, groups like ISIS do not need to rely on disillusioned refugees to commit acts of terror. Indeed, the majority of perpetrators in the recent Paris and Brussels attacks were not refugees, but French and Belgian citizens. The major headline attacks in recent months were not perpetrated by Mr. Trump’s pet “snakes” at all; they were perpetrated primarily by extremists who were either raised or lived in the country already. It is almost embarrassing that Trump forces us to revive the mantra that terrorism is perpetrated not by refugees or Muslims, but by extremists.

Can we accept the prospect that a man who considers people who need our acceptance and aid nothing more than dangerous animals could be our next president? The real snake ultimately is not immigration, refugees, or even ISIS. It is Donald Trump.