With the general election a mere five months away, it has become increasingly difficult to have a conversation with anyone sans a political debate. Whether it's the mainstream news, an article posted by a friend on Facebook or even on the Starbucks line, it's almost impossible to escape the election talk. Although there is a great deal of excitement every four years, this election cycle has been uniquely charged, largely due to controversial Republican nominee Donald Trump.
Donald Trump frighteningly rose to the top of the plethora of Republican candidates, and is now only a few steps away from the Oval office. This is especially terrifying since Donald Trump hardly seems human, nevermind presidential.
Below are a few quotes from past presidents contrasted against some classic Trump lines. Let's see if the possible future "Mr. President" fits in.
1. On Immigration
"The bosom of America is open to receive not only the opulent and respected stranger, but the oppressed and persecuted of all nations and religions; whole we shall welcome to a participation of all our rights and privileges..."
~ George Washington
“I believe in the idea of amnesty for those who have put down roots and lived here, even though sometime back they may have entered illegally.”
~ Ronald Reagan
VS
"When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're not sending you. They're not sending you. They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists."
~ Donald Trump
"I will build a great wall - and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me - and I'll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our Southern border and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words."
~ Donald Trump
2. On Voting
“Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.”
~ John Quincy Adams
VS
"I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose voters."
~ Donald Trump
3. On War
“Mankind must put an end to war — or war will put an end to mankind.”
~ John F Kennedy
"War should never be entered upon until every agency of peace has failed.”
~ William McKinley
VS
"They have some in Syria, some in Iraq. I would bomb the s--- out of 'em. I would just bomb those suckers. That's right. I'd blow up the pipes. ... I'd blow up every single inch. There would be nothing left. And you know what, you'll get Exxon to come in there and in two months, you ever see these guys, how good they are, the great oil companies? They'll rebuild that sucker, brand new - it'll be beautiful."
~ Donald Trump
4. On the environment
“To waste, to destroy, our natural resources, to skin and exhaust the land instead of using it so as to increase its usefulness, will result in undermining in the days of our children the very prosperity which we ought by right to hand down to them amplified and developed.”
~ Theodore Roosevelt
VS
"Snowing in Texas and Louisiana, record setting freezing temperatures throughout the country and beyond. Global warming is an expensive hoax!"
~ Donald Trump
5. On Wealth
"We know that a peaceful world cannot long exist one third rich and two thirds hungry"
~ Jimmy Carter
"I think when you spread the wealth around it's good for everybody."
~Barack Obama
VS
"That's one of the nice things. I mean, part of the beauty of me is that I'm very rich"
~ Donald trump
6. On Abortion
"Abortion should not only be safe and legal, it should be rare."
~ Bill Clinton
VS
“Public funding of abortion providers is an insult to people of conscience at the least and an affront to good governance at best.”
~ Donald Trump
These are just a few of the countless ramblings that definitively prove Donald Trump completely unfit to be the future leader of our country. What some call "refreshingly honest," I see as bigotry, racism, and ignorance. Especially when juxtaposed against the great minds who have thus far shaped the U.S. , Trump just doesn't measure up. So before you vote to "Make America great again," I leave you with a few words of wisdom from former President Dwight D. Eisenhower that just might make you rethink that
"You do not lead by hitting people over the head - that's assault, not leadership."
