The 2016 presidential election has been a mess since day one. No one is taking the candidates seriously and almost everyone is talking about whether Clinton or Trump is the “lesser of two evils.” This shouldn't even be a question.
Why let politicians control politics when we can put a businessman who has gone bankrupt four times in charge of the country? It’s not just Trump’s failed business endeavors that make him unfit for office. On multiple occasions, Trump has refused to pay private contractors, including the young girls who danced and sang his praises at one of his rallies in Des Moines, Iowa. If he refuses to pay his own debts and avoids paying taxes, who’s to say he’ll do anything but continue to jack up the country’s debt?
Trump has also said his fair share of lies. Many of his views used to align with the left, yet he refuses to acknowledge how drastically his views have changed. But wait, isn’t that the same reason people are against Clinton? Both have switched stances on many issues, yet people only show outrage towards Clinton.
For those who like to use Bill Clinton’s cheating scandal in the ‘90s (over 20 years ago, mind you) as fuel against Hillary, let’s take a look at Donald Trump’s marriages. He cheated on wife number one with wife number two, and did the same to wife number two with wife number three. He has children with three different women, all of whom he has cheated either on or with. If Hillary Clinton had children with three different men and cheated on all of those men, no one would have let her get this far in the election. If President Obama had done the same, he would not have been elected into office. People are excusing Donald Trump’s lack of respect because he’s a rich white man.
By now, everyone has heard of the awful things Trump has said about women over the years. His comments that he referred to as "locker room banter" (which included kissing and groping women without permission) are really descriptions of sexual assault. He has no respect for women, people of color, or the LGBT+ community. He said Mexican immigrants are drug dealers and rapists, even though over half of rapists are white and over two-thirds of drug dealers are white. His running mate, Mike Pence, wants to reintroduce gay conversion therapy, funded by tax dollars. Conversion therapy supposedly changes gay people’s sexuality or, in all reality, makes them hate themselves so much, they pretend to be straight so the torture (which includes shock therapy) will end. Trump and Pence respect cisgender heterosexual white men. No one else.
Donald Trump had no respect for Hillary Clinton during the first presidential debate. He interrupted Clinton over 30 times and avoided questions he had no answer to at all costs. If he becomes president and treats other world leaders the way he treated Clinton, the United States will be the battleground for World War III. After all, Trump has said he has no problem using nuclear weapons, even when not attacked.
The Republican party has let one of the most repugnant businessmen represent their party this election. However, many Republican leaders have renounced any support for Trump. Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee in the 2012 election, has refused to support Trump since he first announced his candidacy. Since the release of Trump saying some of the vilest comments about women, even more Republican officials are retracting their support for Trump. Even Trump’s running mate had to lie during the vice presidential debate about some of the things Trump has said in the past because even he knew Trump's comments were ridiculous.
It’s no longer time to reconsider voting for Trump; it’s time to completely abandon the idea. Trump's campaign is based solely on hatred and fear. This is not the type of person we need running the country and acting as a role model for young Americans. I’m not saying vote for Hillary Clinton. I’m saying vote for literally anyone other than Donald Trump this November. If you can vote for a man with no respect for anyone besides himself and still have a clean conscience, take a look at your mother, daughter, wife, friends of color, and LGBT+ friends and let them know you don’t respect them either.
