We all know about this year’s presidential campaign, and it seems that everyone has pretty strong feelings about Trump. I recently thought to myself, “Self, do you think anyone your age has any good things to say about Trump?” After that, I decided that I had to find out. Here are some good things that my peers had to say about Mr. Trump:
“I like how he is honest -- but at the same time, I dislike how he is blunt… Additionally, I appreciate how Mr. Trump has a passion for change. He appeals to much of this country who is frankly fed-up with the way things have been. Yet, I feel that his yearn for change is not driven by feelings of freedom or a desire to “make America great again." Unfortunately, anger and a quest for even more power drives Mr. Trump towards the White House.” (India O)
“What is positive about him is that he has helped show the bigotry and racism that still exists in our ever-growing nation. Another positive is that he shows the Republican Party needs a major party reform.” (David M)
“He makes me laugh.” (Connor B)
“He’s an idiot. But at least he’s amusing.” (Andrew C).
“I heard Trump killed a cyclops.” (Aaron H)
Apart from the last (obviously ridiculous) rumor, it seemed that my peers had plenty of positive things to say about Mr. Trump -- but not without some sort of negative connotation. I then asked my peers to tell me what they disliked about Mr. Trump, and the following were their answers:
“I think a presidential candidate needs to know the boundary between candidness and truly hurtful speech. I agree that this culture is far too concerned with political correctness, but our words are powerful and should be proclaimed with care. Proverbs 18:21 tells us 'Death and life are in the power of the tongue.' It is crucial that we speak and act with care.” (India O)
“Trump heading into the presidential race was supposed to be a joke until things got serious… He is not a successful businessman because he has declared bankruptcy four times. He is inconsistent with his views because he flips his views on issues every day, such as supporting abortion and then saying it should be illegal. He gives 5-year-old responses to questions asked of him and does not answer those questions directly. People who would rather have a businessman with no political experience in the Oval Office rather than an actual politician is like saying I would rather have a lawyer perform surgery on me than an actual surgeon do his job. He’s a poor example to children- parents want to inspire their children to grow up to be president someday. But if the president they are looking to is Donald Trump - a person who has inconsistent views, spews out profanity, and calls anyone who disagrees with his views a ‘loser’ -- they are going to have a horrible role model.” (David M)
“I dislike Trump because, to me, he is seeming more and more like Hitler. His supporters are getting armbands to show who they support, for crying out loud! On top of that, he allows fights at his rallies, and even goes on to cheer for them. That is more of a childish thing to do, and it’s not what I expect a presidential candidate to act like.” (Brittany H)
“His hair sucks.” (Keenan L)
“Disregarding anything he has said, the amount of hate he has already caused to spread and stir among individuals even before stepping foot into the potential of achieving a presidential status aggravates me the most.” (Priscilla W)
“I dislike how he seeks attention. He treats this like a reality show. He has no leg to stand on and switches sides most of the time. He is all about the drama. Everyone thinks he would be a great president with financing because of his many business. Well, all but one of his businesses have failed. And he says he would have sex with his daughter. Am I the only one who finds that a little weird?” (Alyssa S)
“What is terrifying is the fact that despite all of the asinine comments and fascist sentiment, people still think he would be a competent leader.” (Andrew C)
As I would have expected, many young adults claim to strongly dislike Donald Trump, and for very good reasons. As a young adult, I feel terrified to know that Donald Trump could actually win the presidency. It’s scary to know that there are those who are blind to his selfishness, bigotry, racism and they legitimately support him. So I make this call to all young people: if you feel this strongly about Trump, make sure that you are getting your butt to the polls come election day. This is not a joke, this is not a drill. If we don’t vote against him, Trump could win. And according to one young adult, there could be some pretty harsh consequences if he does win the presidency:
“If he gets elected, one of two things will happen… he will get assassinated, or other countries will nuke us. I’m not willing to find out.” (Alyssa S)
