It’s become pretty common to hear jokes about the things that Donald Trump has said in his bid for the Presidency. People laugh when they say they plan to leave the country when Trump takes office and roll their eyes when someone mentions the “Great Wall of Trump” that the GOP frontrunner pledges to erect on our border with Mexico. Everyone is laughing now, but it’s going to be significantly less funny when Donald Trump actually takes office.

It’s no secret at all that Donald Trump is a racist and a bigot. The Trump campaign has gone after Latinos, African Americans, Asians, immigrants, women, Muslims, and the disabled. He holds no bars when it comes to his opinions, even though they’re absolutely terrifying. His election could set the United States back decades in equality, social, and civil rights. Having him in office could destroy our credibility as a nation and forever tarnish our reputation as a diverse and welcoming country—which was the whole point of the United States to begin with.

Even scarier than Donald Trump alone are the people who wholeheartedly support him. At his rallies, he can say something blatantly racist and people cheer. At a rally in Orlando, Florida, Trump asked the audience to raise their right hand and pledge their allegiance to him and his campaign. If the parallels between Donald Trump and Adolf Hitler hadn’t been apparent yet, they’re definitely coming into focus now.

I get it. People are frustrated right now. Our country has problems and the public is looking for a way to fix these problems. Donald Trump's solution is to point fingers and utilize scare tactics. It’s easy to say it’s China’s fault, or due to the immigrants, or because of someone’s religion. What’s difficult is being introspective and admitting that some of the issues facing America stem from right here at home.

Another big reason that we need to stop feeding into the frenzy that is Donald Trump’s campaign is because we should spend a little time looking at the other two GOP candidates in his shadow. People are quick to joke about Trump’s crazy opinions, but can’t see past his outrageous platform to notice that Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz share some of the same opinions. None of the Republicans in the race acknowledge the existence of global warming. Rubio has pledged to repeal marriage equality as soon as he’s elected, and Cruz has ties to a pastor who calls for “an extermination of homosexuals.”

Seriously, this entire presidential race has to be a joke. But it’s not. I’m not laughing anymore. Election day is getting a little too close for comfort. We need to stop making jokes about the bigotry in this campaign and start taking a stand. We can’t put up with this kind of behavior from people running for the office to run our country, or else we’ll be looking at a pretty dismal four years (at least) for the United States.