This past week, the news has been filled with stories regarding a tape released from 2005 revealing Donald Trump bragging about sexually assaulting women. Nothing about this recording is remotely acceptable, yet it is astonishing to see the amount of defense and support he continues to get despite this latest atrocity.

Sexual assault is a serious, real problem in today’s society. The truth is people like Donald Trump, who so freely speak offensively about women, keep this trend continuing. To excuse what he said as “Locker Room Talk” is almost humorous. What should that have anything to do with the situation? Is that the type of person we want to be the President of the United States? The type of person who is going to sweet talk the audience and then go back behind the scenes and laugh about assaulting women? As the Chief Executive, the president should be someone who has good character on and off the screen.

It scares me to think that such a large portion of society can tolerate this sort of language and brush it off. “It’s just locker room talk.” I believe that this sort of communication is the best indicator of what type of leader Donald Trump would be. I personally believe that our country has become very progressive compared to what we used to be, and allowing someone like Trump to be president would be a big step back for America. Women, again, would be seen as lesser beings that we can just push around.

It may be rebellious of me to say this, but I’m confused about the slogan “Make America Great Again.” When I think about all of the things our country has accomplished even since 2000, I think America has made some pretty significant improvements, especially with LGBTQ rights. If you ask me, I don’t think America is all that bad. Reversing all of the achievements would bring us back, instead of moving forward. Additionally, we would move even further back by electing someone who brags about sexually assaulting women when they’re not “on camera.” I mean, just something to think about.