It's easy to see why Donald Trump rose to prominence last year as a potential candidate for the Presidency. His polarizing personality, willingness to speak his mind, and lack of political correctness convinced (and continues to convince) voters that he is the "political outsider" Washington needs. I'll admit it myself, in the early days of his campaign, I was glued to the TV anytime he spoke and watched with glee as the soap opera that is his campaign unfolded.
But it's now February 2016, and the novelty of Donald J. Trump has worn off. Now that he may actually win the Republican nomination, his campaign isn't funny anymore and, even if you're aboard the Trump train, you should be worried.
The same qualities that make him so identifiable and popular with his supporters are the same reasons this man cannot be elected President. Trump supporters have universally agreed that his political incorrectness, often expressed by bluntly stating what is on his mind, is his most refreshing quality as a Presidential candidate. And, while I agree it's nice to hear a politician not politic his way out of every answer, Trump's words are worse.
He's racist.
Whether he's claiming President Obama was born in Kenya (even after he provided his birth certificate), suggesting that President Obama has influenced the 'thugs' in Baltimore, calling for a ban on Muslim immigrants into the United States or asserting that the Mexicans that are entering the United States are 'criminals' 'drug dealers' and 'rapists', Trump has never shied away from blatantly discriminating against people of color or from other cultures. Not since the Jim Crow era South has a potential Presidential candidate said such inflammatory things and gotten away with it.
Not only does Trump's ignorant language offend, isolate and discriminate against people in our own country, but one must ask, what would stop him if, God forbid, he was elected, from saying the same thing about people from countries we are trade partners with? Or that have nuclear capability? Donald Trump's hateful and bigoted language not only has the capability to split apart our own country but the potential to end partnerships with other countries, end trade agreements, halt peace talks and incite wars and attacks on our country. Maybe you think don't his obviously racist and discriminatory views are problematic now, but bear in mind that this man will influence policymaking, impact international peace talks, impact international legislature and control our military. As the leader of the Free World, he will essentially be the prototype of how the rest of the world views our country and its people. Are we really willing to accept Trump as the representative for this great country?
Not only is Trump a racist, but he is a bonafide homophobe and transphobe, as well. On gay marriage, Trump has stated, amongst other things, that he would appoint Supreme Court Justices who would overturn the recent ruling that nationally recognizes gay marriage, does not support even civil unions for homosexuals, and a strange analogy in which he compared gay marriage to golfing. His contributions to the trans community include disqualifying Jenna Talackova from the Miss Universe Canada competition in 2012 for not being "naturally born" as a woman, before joking(?) that her name sounding like 'genital' gave her away. Is that really the behavior we want from the leader of one of the more progressive countries in the world? Is he really the best representative for the roughly four percent of the population that identifies as a member of the LGBTQ community?
In addition to that bigotry, Trump is also a noted misogynist. He's claimed that if his daughter wasn't his daughter "perhaps they'd be dating". He once said that all the women on his show The Apprentice flirted with him "consciously or unconsciously, that's to be expected." He's compared actress Kristen Stewart to a dog, claimed that Ariana Huffington's husband leaving her for another man was due to her appearance, and once even called a lawyer "disgusting" after she asked for a medical break during a court case to pump breast milk.
Probably his most high-profile sexist feud is his rivalry in which he said of Rosie O'Donnell, "Rosie's a loser. A real loser. I look forward to taking lots of money from my nice fat little Rosie", "Rosie is crude, rude, obnoxious and dumb", "Well, Rosie O'Donnell's disgusting, both inside and out. You take a look at her, she's a slob, she talks like a truck driver...I'd look her right in that fat, ugly face of hers and I'd say 'Rosie, you're fired'...Rosie is a very unattractive person, both inside and out ... Rosie's a person that's very lucky to have her girlfriend, and she better be careful or I'll send one of my friends over to pick up her girlfriend, why would she stay with Rosie if she had another choice... I'd like to take some money out of her fat ass pockets."
Even if you aren't a feminist (and you should be), you have to recognize that this is a problem. The pattern of disrespect and offensive and vulgar language that Trump has aimed at female colleagues shows that he has no respect for women. He is eerily reminiscent of a 1950s man, whose view of women is that their place is in the home and that any woman who tries to enter the business or working world is automatically an inferior, only around for their looks. Which isn't hard to claim, since Trump himself questioned Carly Fiorina's ability to be presidency based on her looks, saying, "Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president." In 2016, a man who has displayed such chauvinistic behaviors should not be allowed to even run for President in my opinion, lest he win and try to return women to the cult of domesticity that prevailed in 19th century America.
He has no sense of right and wrong. He has publicly supported Vladimir Putin, a former KGB agent who supports the intimidation and imprisonment of political dissidents and journalists. He claims that he could go onto a New York City street and "shoot someone" and his poll numbers wouldn't drop. He has stated that his plan to defeat ISIS is to "take out their families", suggesting that he would support an international war crime by endorsing the murder of civilians just because of their relation to members of a terrorist group, many of whom were forced into it in the first place. When informed that David Duke, former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, publicly announced his support for Trump, Trump refused to condemn not only Duke, but white supremacy as a whole.
Keep in mind this is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination. If I were to tell you that a politician supported diminishing civil rights, imprisoning journalists, committing war crimes, killing civilians in war, and refused to condemn the KKK and white supremacy, you'd probably want to recall or impeach that politician immediately. But it's Donald Trump. We don't view him like we would a normal politician; we are so used to him saying these things as the host of "The Apprentice" or on Access Hollywood or during a WWE appearance that things like this don't even phase us anymore.
But he's not just a celebrity anymore, he's a legitimate contender to be our political leader. His complete lack of morality and ethics wouldn't come out on a daytime talk show or in the tabloids; these things would be expressed to world leaders, prime ministers, kings, queens, presidents. What kind of world leader would want to sit down and talk or make agreements with a man whose own ethical behavior would make the Grinch sneer with disgust?
The Trump campaign was fun to watch, originally. I was having a field day listening to him talk and say some of the absolute dumbest things that a Presidential candidate has ever uttered. But that was in 2015 and I didn't believe that there was a portion of the population that was racist, ignorant, and uninformed enough to let Trump secure the Republican nomination. But it's March 2016 and he is closing in on the nomination.
Trump is not, and will never be, capable or qualified to be President.
