“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.”
Ladies and gentlemen, possibly your next president of the United States.
What started off as humorous and entertaining has turned into something that has created great fear in many eyes. When Donald Trump first announced that he would be running for president, I noticed a huge increase in comical political posts regarding Trump on social media platforms that make fun of Trump and his ideals through memes, videos and gifs. But now that things are starting to get serious, things aren't so funny anymore.
The millennial generation represents one-third of the eligible voters in our country, according to The Gbrief. 58% of millennials claim to be “very” unfavorable towards Trump as president, according to The Federalist. In addition, according to The Gbrief, millennials mainly look for a leader that is going to be able to connect with them and understands their economic troubles. These are all characteristics Trump does not have.
One would expect to see an increase in the voter turnout for this primary. However, the first month of voting in the presidential primaries indicated that millennials has hardly increased from 2008, according to U.S. News.
Now this is understandable to some degree. Maybe you don’t think there are any good presidential candidates out there. Maybe you don't think your voice matters.You may be right. I mean, what is one vote, right?
One vote might not mean much in the long run, but think about how many people are thinking that their one vote doesn't matter. Let me tell you, with someone like Trump running for office, every vote counts.
Your presidential candidate Donald Trump wants to deport all undocumented immigrants, freeze green cards and temporary ban all Muslims from coming to the United Sates, according to PBS. The time of the baby boomers is nearly gone, according to The Federalist. Millennials finally have the opportunity to have their voices heard, but we can’t do that unless we vote. We can’t make change in this world if all we do is talk about it. Our generation has the chance to make our voices heard, but we can’t do so by not voting.
So if you don’t support brutal racism or sexism that is apparent in Trump’s campaign, then go out there and vote. Because at this point anything is better than seeing Donald Trump - the man who was "given a small loan of a million dollars," the man who is "going to build a wall," the man who is "going to temporarily deport all Muslims," step foot in The White House.
So go out and vote. Make your voice heard. Make noise. Show the older generations out there that we care about this world and we’re going to leave it a better place than we started with. And the first step to making this world a better place is to vote.