If you know me, you know that I was very liberal. I was an activist, read all kinds of political theory, and was a huge Bernie supporter. I don’t like Trump. His rhetoric is awful and his sexual assault allegations have made me very uneasy so why am I “settling for Trump?”

When Bernie dropped out I was completely crushed. The Democratic party split almost in half between Bernie and Biden supporters and then put out the hypocritical message to us progressives:

 “Settle for Biden.” 

But I didn’t want to settle for Biden who’s running off the identity politics of being Obama’s vice president, off of Kamala Harris, and who holds weak neo-liberal watered down progressive stances and whos’s only platform is to get Trump out of office. 

The idea of getting Trump out of office is the liberals dream right now, but if you are voting for Biden you should be aware of his corrupt history in politics. We should be concerned and critical over his platform. 

Biden had thirty-six years as a U.S. Senator, and eight as Obama’s vice president and what did he do? 

Well, Biden entered politics in 1972. To put this in perspective: my fifty-year-old mom was two years old. Within his years in office, he has a history of lying, inconsistency, signing , voting, and supporting policies that have hurt Americans, the middle class, immigrants, and millions in the Middle East.

In 1994 he wrote the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, which hardened federal prison sentences and has disproportionately incarcerated black and brown Americans. In 2002, he voted for the Iraq War and was present at the White House when then-President George W. Bush signed the resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq. 

As vice president under the Obama administration, he supported the concentration camps at the border started by the Obama administration, supported Obama care which absolutely ruined the middle class, and dropped 26,171 bombs in 2016, supporting Obama’s bloody reign to the War on Terror even in the last year of his administration. This was only a little over four years ago. 

After decades of progressive subsidies, red tape and restrictions, it’s become more difficult and expensive than ever to start a business, buy a home or provide for one’s own family.

What has Trump done for the economy? 

In his four years in office, prior to Covid, more Americans were employed than ever recorded before in our history. Almost 4 million jobs were created since the election; he has created more than 400,000 manufacturing jobs; prior to Covid, economic growth hit 4.2 percent; median household income hit the highest level ever recorded; African-American, Hispanic-American, and Asian-American unemployment achieved the lowest rate ever recorded; women’s unemployment reached the lowest rate in 65 years; youth unemployment  hit the lowest rate in nearly half a century; Americans without a high school diploma reached the unemployment rate ever recorded, and veterans’ unemployment reached its lowest rate in nearly 20 years.

Almost 3.9 million Americans have been lifted off food stamps since the election. In his first quarter alone; $300 billion poured back into the U.S; And President Trump enacted regulatory relief for community banks and credit unions. 

What has Trump done for healthcare? 

By repealing Obama care, his Administration  provided more affordable healthcare options for Americans through association health plans and short-term duration plans; the FDA approved more affordable generic drugs than ever before in history and many drug companies are freezing or reversing planned price increases. Trump reformed the Medicare program to stop hospitals from overcharging low-income seniors on their drugs—saving seniors hundreds of millions of dollars this year alone; signed Right-To-Try legislation; he secured $6 billion in funding to fight the opioid epidemic; he has reduced high-dose opioid prescriptions by 16 percent during his first year in office; he signed VA Choice Act and VA Accountability Act, expanded VA telehealth services, walk-in-clinics, and same-day urgent primary and mental health care, and he awarded funding to address the needs of individuals with disabilities in emergency responses: 

What has Trump done for the environment? 

In 2018, the President signed the Save Our Seas Act. This reauthorized the NOAA Marine Debris Program, which promotes international action to reduce marine debris, and authorizes cleanup and response actions needed as a result of severe marine debris events. This followed an executive action by the President to improve Federal coordination on matters involving ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes waters, including prioritizing research and technology needs and expanding public access to ocean-related data.

Directed by Trump, The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) worked harder than ever to clean up our Nation’s contaminated lands and hazardous sites. In 2018, EPA completed cleanup work on all or part of 22 Superfund sites from the National Priorities List, the largest number in any one year since 2005. The President has directed the EPA to more efficiently implement air quality standards to improve America’s air quality to better protect human health and the environment. The Trump Administration has prioritized funding for environmental restoration projects in the Florida Everglades, including more than $500 million to accelerate completion of Herbert Hoover Dike rehabilitation at Lake Okeechobee.

And, President Trump signed the largest public lands legislation in a decade, designating 1.3 million new acres of wilderness.The Department of the Interior has proposed to open more than a million acres across the country for expanded hunting and fishing access, ensuring that hunters, anglers, and outdoor enthusiasts are able to enjoy fully our Nation’s lands and waters.

What has Trump done for foreign policy? 

If anything sold me on Trump it was his foreign policy. His administration includes a focus on security, and an “America First” approach to trade. 

His victories include: withdrawing from the one-sided Iran Deal,  moving a U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem; concluding a historic U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Deal to replace NAFTA; imposing tariffs on China in response to China’s forced technology transfer intellectual property theft;  improving vetting and screening for refugees, and switching focus to overseas resettlement. 

Trump was also  the first president to set foot in North Korea and established a peaceful relationship. 

The question would be what hasn’t Trump done yet? 

And why we need four more years. 

The left might tell you four more years of Trump will be “loss of rights” and four years of facism and white supremacy but the reality is four more years of Trump means saving our economy, saving small businesses that are going under because of Covid 19, protecting the middle class, protecting our first amendment rights, opening society and life back up, developing and putting out Covid treatment, and putting America First. 

Overall Trump’s policies check out far greater than Biden’s. For example, while Biden’s fifteen-dollar national minimum wage may sound nice, it absolutely makes no sense and would destroy small businesses across the country. 

In July 2019, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that a $15 minimum wage would eliminate 1.3 million jobs. When it comes to minimum wage, it should be up to the states and cities not up to congress. 

Enacting Biden Care would mean less medicinal freedom and would slam the middle and working class. 

Biden’s plan to shut down our country and economy, would put hundreds of thousands of businesses to death and put millions on the streets. Trump instead offers a plan of scientific and medical progression and hope that life will return to what we knew before March 2020. 

If elected, Biden would undo the president’s job-boosting tax and regulation cuts and restore the failed policies of the Obama-Biden administration, which oversaw the slowest economic recovery since WWII. Ultimately, a vote for Joe Biden is a vote that will result in more people being hurt by more government programs that incentivize irresponsible behaviors. A vote for Biden is a punch in the gut to the middle class and small businesses across the country. And a vote for Biden will push us farther into a Great Depression. 

I’m settling for Trump, supporting policy over personality because I support America, freedom, individuality, small businesses, all lives, and common sense. 

Related: Why I Am Voting for Biden