Donald Trump is running for president again. Not only is he running, but Trump is currently the favorite to win the Republican nomination. Worse yet, the Democrats don’ have a strong candidate to beat him. I think we can agree that nothing could be worse for America than a second Trump presidency.
That’s why I am setting out my five reasons why Trump must be defeated. I know the 2024 election is still over two years away, but the Republicans are already rigging the election laws to help them win, and it’s never too early to expose the dangers that a second Trump presidency represents.
REASON #1 TRUMP’s HANDLING OF THE COVID CRISIS
It was bad luck for both Donald Trump and the American people that the Covid crisis hit while he was in office. Although a clever man in his business affairs, Trump had never run a large bureaucracy and has always been impatient with aides who challenge his views.
Trump constantly disagreed with the advice he received from his medical experts, Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the White House Coronavirus task force, and Anthony Fauci, the Chief Medical Advisor to the President. He mostly relied upon the outsider Dr. Scott Atlas who dismissed the efficacy of wearing masks and suggested the pandemic should be left to run its course.
Trump’s own refusal to wear a mask was copied by millions of Trump supporters, leaving them and the rest of us in harm’s way This unnecessary act was probably the low point of Trump’s handling of the pandemic. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/10/03/trumps-refusal-wear-face-masks-turned-them-into-sad-national-symbol/ .
REASON #2 THE TRUMP TAX CUTS
We shouldn’t ignore Trump’s plan to jumpstart the economy by giving massive tax cuts to corporations and the wealthy. Instead of the boom Trump promised, that tax cut will increase the deficit by over $1 trillion over its 11year life. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/19/us/politics/republican-tax-bill.html
We might call the Trump tax bill the “gift that keeps taking” since it robbed the Treasury of revenue that could have been used to finance President’s Biden Build Back Better law which promised universal pre-k and funds to arrest climate change. Tax cuts for the rich is not a social policy we can afford.
REASON #3 TRUMP AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Donald Trump has been a consistent climate change denier--”I am not a believer. Perhaps there’s a minor effect, but I’m not a believer in man-made climate change.” Perhaps that’s why the president put his money where his heart is- for tax cuts-- instead of fighting climate change. Over his four years in office, “Trump steadily loosened oversight of polluting industries, eroded protections for endangered wildlife and stymied Obama-era efforts to address…climate change.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/climate-environment/trump-climate-environment-protections/
But as with Covid, science proved him wrong. A recent study in the journal Nature Climate Change tells us that “at least 85% of the global population has experienced weather events made worse by climate change.” The study’s focus on events such as crop failures, floods, and heat waves allowed scientists to make a solid link between escalating extremes and human activities.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/10/11/85-percent-population-climate-impacts/ And, as we have seen over the last year, scenes of destruction on television confirm this same sad story.
REASON #4 TRUMP’S RACISM
“Race” has always played a large role in American life, assuming that whites are somehow superior to people of color. So we should not be surprised a former hotel executive said Trump criticized a black accountant: “Black guys counting my money! I hate it. … I think that the guy is lazy. And it’s probably not his fault, because laziness is a trait in blacks.”
That’s garden variety racial prejudice, but Trump soon evolved to a larger game when he became interested in politics. In 2011 he became a “birther”, questioning whether president Barrack Obama had been born in the U.S. This was a false rumor Trump borrowed to attract support when he ran in the 2016 primaries for the Republican nomination for president. This “dog whistle” to racial bigotry played a large role in his becoming the Republican candidate for president in 2016, an election he surprisingly won against Hillary Clinton. This same tactical use of racism has been a Trump staple ever since. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/01/15/opinion/leonhardt-trump-racist.html
Trump combined kind words for white racists in Charlottesville (‘fine people”) with references to Haiti as a “sh-t-hole of a country. This steady diet of racist invective continues to play a large role in the disintegration of our democracy, a fact borne out by the violent participation of pro-Trump white supremacist groups in Washington D.C. during the January 6th riots. https://www.voanews.com/a/2020-usa-votes_researchers-more-dozen-extremist-groups-took-part-capitol-riots/6200832.html
REASON #5 TRUMP’s DISRESPECT FOR LAW
There is no shortage of examples of Trump’s disrespect for the law. One example is Trump’s scheme for “corruptly soliciting” election assistance from Ukraine in the form of an investigation that would smear his Democratic rival, Joe Biden. Trump conditioned Ukraine’s receipt of $391 million in security assistance on Ukraine digging up dirt on Biden’s son.
Another example is Trump’ request that the Georgia Secretary of State “find” sufficient votes to turn Mr. Trump’s 2020 election defeat in that state into a victory. “I just want to find 11,780 votes….” Mr. Trump said during the conversation. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/03/us/politics/trump-raffensperger-call-georgia.html
And we should never forget Mr. Trump’s refusal to stop his supporters’ riot at the capitol on Jan. 6th. Several Republican officials begged Mr. Trump to ask his supporters to stop their violence, but he refused to take any action, perhaps in hope that Vice President Pence would accede to his demand that Trump be declared the election’s winner. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/13/us/politics/trump-capitol-riot.html
That completes my summary of Trump’s destructive accomplishments during his four years as president. Just think what damage the Donald could do if we gave him four more years!
I have tried to keep this post to about 1000 words for readability's sake. It would be helpful to know what other issues you think I should have been included. I’d like to see your additions. We’ve all been much too quiet thus far for our— and our country’s— good!
Yes, all those things are true but it doesn't mean a hill of beans to all those who voted for that despicable person and those who now can't stand Biden and will vote for Trump next time.