The colloquial definition of ‘politician’ during this election cycle is a person who is too entrenched in the system, says one thing and does another, and is power hungry. This definition has been mostly perpetuated by Donald Trump himself because he wants to paint himself as an outsider. He has correctly diagnosed that our country is full of unrest. We are done with the political system as we’ve seen it so far. We’re sick and tired of fluctuating job growth, terrorist attacks, wars, and taxes. And when we turn to our political leadership, we’re faced with evasion of questions, no admission of guilt, and power seeking to the detriment of the constituency.
As a girl who wore donkey earrings to watch the first presidential debate, I will admit that I wish I heard Hillary apologize for the e-mail scandal. I don’t think she is exempt from the critiques of our unsettled, unsatisfied electorate. It would be naïve to think so, but I think it is equally naïve to think that Mr. Trump, because he has never held office before, is immune from these same pitfalls. Tonight Trump proved himself to be a ‘politician’ in the disdainful way he uses the term.
First, I have found that I personally get most frustrated with politicians when they evade questions, instead of answering whatever they are most prepared for, or just whatever they feel the most like answering. It’s like they think our questions don’t matter,they know better what we want to know, like they think we are so dumb we will be satisfied with an answer to a tangential question instead of to our actual one. It insults our intelligence and it shows a lack of comprehensive plans. Trump epitomized this behavior tonight, consistently disregarding Lester Holt’s questions, no matter how many times he asked them. For example, Lester asked how Trump would bring companies and jobs back to America, and instead, Trump just continued to state he just wouldn’t let the jobs leave, but he already stated that it was too late for millions of jobs that were already moved overseas, so the question was avoided and unanswered. It grew even worse when Trump again refused to release his tax returns, ignoring the fact presented that the IRS would allow him to publish the returns even during an audit. It was almost like he was told a line about the tax returns and just repeated it, regardless of what was asked or stated, but regardless of the reasons, he left the voters with questions asked and unanswered. The piece de resistance was when Lester was forced to repeat in the race relations portion of the debate “this is about race” ad infinitum, and Trump just kept saying that he got results unlike Hilary because he got Obama to present his birth certificate. He never answered that question or even acknowledged it was asked.
Complaint two about politicians: no admission of guilt. Trump tried to save face continuously throughout this debate, at one point just articulating “wrong” three times while Hillary made allegations. Even when Holt validated Hillary’s assertion that Trump supported the war in Iraq, Trump flatly denied it. Even when Trump was corrected, again by both Hillary and Holt, that in actuality “Stop & Frisk” policy had been ruled unconstitutional, he continued to fight that it was not, finally amending to claim the judge was “anti-police” and that other cities have implemented it without legal trouble. This position is very concerning for many reasons, but his refusal to admit that he at the very least misspoke when he denied that “Stop & Frisk” in New York had been found unconstitutional is a perfect example of “political” behavior.
Finally, tonight Trump was especially critical of Hillary’s campaigning against President Obama when she now lauds many of his accomplishments. He used that as an example of her political corruption, or her being wishy-washy. But I would reply that it seems Trump is a big believer in just doing what he must do to get ahead, including forging relationships solely for this purpose. The Clintons were invited to his wedding, for the most glaring example. They were friends, and now he is personally attacking her at every turn. His insistence that he never endorsed the war in Iraq is another example, he changes his tune to whatever is most convenient at the time, to whatever will win him points in business, or personal life, or, now, politics.
We can have long conversations about Trump, but please don’t tell me he is a refreshing face in the political system when he just typifies the very problems that exist within it. The fact that he’s not “politically correct” is something he now uses to gain political traction. This is why he claims to be supportive of minorities at the same time as he advocates racist policies, it’s what he needs to say to get your vote. There’s no honesty here, he’s not “saying what he thinks,” he’s a ‘politician,’ in the worst connotation of the word.
