After the last week, it can seem truly extraordinary that presidential elections are about more than allegations of increasingly sordid criminal behavior. But the truth is, there will be real issues at stake on November 8th– and principal among them is the future of our democracy. We hear a lot of talk, from politicians and pundits alike, about one candidate or another threatening the “rule of law” or the “integrity” of our political system. The reality is though, that few Americans truly comprehend what those phrases mean. We simply don’t have the experiences to view democracy as more than an abstraction. So sometimes, like a doctor diagnosing a mysterious illness, we need a second opinion.
Like many Americans, I watched last Sunday’s presidential debate, but unlike most I had the unique opportunity to watch it in the company of the people best able to assess our political system: outsiders, specifically international students from my college. The people I watched the debate with came from all over the world, from different continents and cultures. But they are united by the fact that they chose to travel thousands of miles to come here, to the United States. Because they decided, of all the countries in the world, this was the best place to pursue their futures. And that is why it so shattered me to watch them watch Donald Trump.
A lot has been made of Trump’s various offensive behaviors; his insults and bigotry. But the truth is that our country has survived an astounding variety of presidential flaws. Trump’s supporters are not wrong to argue that personal failings, however heinous, do not make or break a presidency. Many, if not most of our leaders have been sexist and racist; some have been senile, insane, gravely ill or simply catastrophically incompetent. The reality is that personal repugnancy has never been a barrier to holding the highest office in the land. These traits are not what terrify my foreign classmates – what really scares them is not Trump’s boorishness, but his brutality.
Whatever their flaws, every prior president has embraced the ideals of our democracy; the will of the people and the fundamental rights inherent to our society. Then came Trump. For a man with little knowledge of the constitution of this country, he has done an extraordinary job of systematically threatening every freedom enumerated in the 1st Amendment. He has threatened reporters, protesters, religious minorities, and his political opponents. He has undermined democracy (with his claims of a "rigged" election) and he has subtly (and not so subtly) encouraged violence. These statements are more than distractions; they are more serious even than the personal crimes both candidates have been accused of; they threaten the bedrock of our democracy.
And that is why it is so important to listen to foreign observers, from national leaders to my fellow students. Because as Americans, we lack the experiences to comprehend what Trump's anti-democratic rhetoric really means. We think of democracy as an abstract, but we don’t remember the horrors of its absence. Few of us understand the raw fear that the government will imprison, threaten or kill its citizens. Few of us know the helplessness of a regime that oppresses rather than protects. But my international classmates do. They know what it really means for politics to devolve into violence. They have seen the unfettered reign of corruption and cynicism and they recognize Trump for what he really is; not a joke, not a champion of the downtrodden, but the manifestation of all they escaped to come to this country.
Like millions of Americans before me, I have lived my life in a bubble of peace and security; I have experienced neither violence nor fear nor terror. The absence of those horrors was no accident. Over and over again our country has made the right choice; we have rejected authoritarian politics at every turn – and now we must do it one more time. So I ask any Trump supporters who read this, look past partisanship to the common values we all share, and then examine your candidate one last time before November 8th. Because America should not be “familiar” to those who crossed oceans to come here, we should be unique - and with every threat and every rant, Donald Trump eviscerates all that has ever made our country special.
