[Opinion] Why I am Settling for Trump
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.
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Marly • Dec 29, 2020 at 11:47 pm
After reading this article I couldn’t help but feel the need to comment. Let’s take a minute to not focus on the political view of everything. Trump has 26 innocents of unwanted sexual contact (rape) and 43 innocents of inappropriate behavior (all of which has been listed in a book called “all the presidents woman: Donald Trump and the making of a predator”) This it’s self is inhuman. Focusing on economy and healthcare over rape is disgusting. Yes, these are just allegations but still need to be focused on. Trump himself said “ And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab ’em by the pussy. You can do anything.” Trump treats woman like complete and total animals. His history of treating woman alone should be enough to convince you that he is not fit to be president. Let’s also talk about the fact that if a black man had one rape allegation he would be sent to prison. Our system is screwed, and needs replaced. Biden and Kamala are a step in the right directions. You are not an activist. You are not a leftist. You are just racist, sexist, homophobic, etc.. By supporting Trump you support a rapist, racist, sexist, homophobic loser. You also do not have any evidence in your article. Everything in your article is straight from fox news. Do your research before you write an article supporting such a horrible human being. Though you have attached links, these articles aren’t actually factual. After doing my own research I have found many articles debunking your main focus points. I am in eighth grade at liberty middle school and I am a better human being and writer than loonytoon O’Grady .
Aryanna Rentzios • Dec 29, 2020 at 11:36 pm
How anyone can support a single thing BEYOND SEXUAL ASSULT AND RAPE this obviously means they have lost touch with their moral compass. You have no supporting evidence. And by the way your president that you settled for said this, “Woman, you have to treat them like shit.” How as a woman can you “settle” and support that. This should make you feel in the least uncomfortable, none the less scared. In this day in age we are trying to get rid of this behavior and he is encouraging it. He is not a good president let alone a human being. You cannot call yourself a liberal and then write this.
Bruce Wayne • Dec 18, 2020 at 7:26 pm
Trump also endorsed QAnon, a group that equates white Christian supremacy and all that oppose it are S*tan worshipping Jews who run the deep state and harvest adrenochrome from infant blood. Hitler literally shared cartoons of Jews grinding infants for blood wine. Until Trump genuinely denounces QAnon, he’s not a good fit for the country.
Do not associate yourself with Nick Fuentes and white Christian supremacy.
Don’t think that QAnon will spare your religious sector from their attacks. They will find a way to slander Mormons in their vile ways.
Eva Hoong • Nov 12, 2020 at 11:56 pm
I feel like everyone has said what was needed to some extent as there is always more to say but here’s what I’m going to say… The fact that you didn’t deny that BIPOC people will have to endure four more years of white supremacy and justifying it by saying four more years of Trump would mean “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” is absolutely horrifying. Regardless of if you are white or not, you can pass as a white person. You have never been called any racial slurs, been made fun of for your eyes, your skin color, you have never witnessed anyone of your race being attacked for simply existing in a country. You have never experienced racism at Grandview. You have never been told to go back to where you came from. For godsakes, it’s not just four more years of white supremacy but economically better America, it’s four more years of constantly wondering if you are next on the victim list as someone of BIPOC. It’s wondering if you will be targeted and beaten up if you step foot outside of your home. It’s wondering if you will see your friends and family when they leave for work, go on a walk, buy groceries again. It’s four more years of having to constantly be on edge and ready to defend yourself and your peers as a BIPOC in case anyone tries to racially harass or assault you and your peers. Trump may not have said to be racist or a white supremacist directly, but he’s allowed his supporters to be and to think that white people are what makes America “great”. You cannot tell BIPOC to endure white supremacy just so America’s economy can go up.
K • Nov 3, 2020 at 4:44 pm
Not sure if you are aware of this, but Jori is an LDS convert. If you are looking for a the strange reason as to why she supports Trump now–there are some answers hidden in her newly-religious beliefs. Personally, I refuse to respect certain religious beliefs (particularly LDS ones) based on the church’s history of racism, sexism, pedophilia, and fraud; however, the people themselves always deserve respect unless they say something discriminatory. But next time it would be great if you had unmasked that large factor for us before cherrypicking your facts and utilizing your confirmation bias.
Her Twitter Account (with largely false claims): @OGreatyy
Julia Matney • Nov 2, 2020 at 11:39 pm
To acknowledge my own bias before my critique, I will say that I am openly and unapologetically leftist. I’m 17, but if I could I would not hesitate to vote for Biden over Trump. I have a lot of issues with this piece. To begin, there is some blatant hypocrisy in this article. You mention Biden’s past of approving policies that have hurt Americans, the Middle East, immigrants, and the middle class without a word of Trump’s wrongdoings in the same areas. Obama implemented the cages, that is a fact. But another fact is that Trump has drastically ruined that system for our immigrants. The cages were temporary under Obama, and under Obama/Biden, they kept families together. Most recently Trump’s administration has “lost” the parents of 545 children. It’s disgusting and heartbreaking. Overall, domestic and international violence has increased under the Trump administration. The Trump administration had more drone strikes on the Middle East than Obama did. I don’t know which way this newspaper leans but according to S. E. Cupp of the Chicago Suntimes, Donald Trump launched 238 drone strikes in Yemen, Somalia, and Pakistan in his first years in office. Obama launched 186 drone strikes. I disapprove of any drone strikes, but to say that Trump did better than our previous presidents is simply wrong. I haven’t done adequate research on Trump’s actions in healthcare over the past four years but I’ll say what I do know. Trump supports big pharma which is killing millions of Americans. The easiest example is insulin costs. Diabetes has been solved; we know the cure and it’s accessible to producers. Under the Trump administration low-earning Americans still have to choose if they’ll eat or if they’ll buy insulin. We shouldn’t be having these problems in 2020. Biden has my vote for healthcare because although he has hot done it yet in his years in politics, he vows to make medicines and cures more accessible to Americans. You cannot say Trump has done anything positive for preventing climate change. He pulled us out of the Paris Agreement and continues to deny science. Don’t talk about Trump’s foreign policy when one of his biggest slogans in 2016 was #BuildTheWall . Disgusting and ignorant.
To answer your question here’s what Trump has not done yet: he has not done any meaningful work to improve the lives of POC, LGBTQ+, veterans, the middle class, or average Americans. Trump has not made any meaningful progress to stopping climate change. Trump has not made meaningful progress at tackling national debt. Trump has not made meaningful progress at improving healthcare.
I’m appalled by Trump and anyone who supports him. If you want to make America great we have to support science over scripture and American lives of capitalism.
Orezi Ogbe • Nov 2, 2020 at 11:29 pm
You acknowledged the fear that it would be a “loss of rights” and “white supremacy” but you didn’t address why we shouldn’t believe that. You finished with saying you support “all lives” but I guess the minorities who would lose rights are not part of all lives. COVID has hit minority communities the hardest. He’s not willing to do anything about police brutality, so some pre-COVID stats on unemployment (COVID is not just going to go away come January 1st. Dr. Fauci says we won’t be back to normal until 2022) are not enough to combat his clear racism. Hate crimes have increased because the president won’t even condemn white supremacists. He’s even against racial bias training. The white supremacists are inspired by his boldness. Also with Amy Cracker Barrel and Mike Pence, LGBTQ people need to worry about their rights as well. Trump opposed the equality Act and job protections for LGBTQ people and proposed laws that would allow trans people to be turned away from homeless shelters. I could continue on about his terrible COVID response, his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, his misogyny, his rollbacks on environmental policies, and more, but I was most irked by your clear lack of compassion for the minorities in this country whose rights and lives are at risk.
Ashwin Vaidyanathan • Nov 2, 2020 at 10:10 pm
First of all, I want to make this very clear. This is a very narrow view of what Trump has done during his first term as president and it barely addresses social issues and depends on praising a false narrative of the economy. Now let’s speak facts. You critique Joe Biden about his 1994 Crime Bill and talk about how it disproportionately affected POC. I agree that it was a very horrible piece of legislation. But also realize, this was 26 years ago. In the past 4 years, Trump created a ban on Muslim countries as a means to limit the amount of refugees that come from places such as Iran and Iraq out of the fear of terrorism. This was clearly a move formed by racism, and to make it seem like it wasn’t racist, he added Venezuela. The funny thing is the attackers from 9/11 were majorly from Saudi Arabia but he had business interests there. At the same time the majority of “terrorist attacks” were technically from people of white descent. From 2009 through 2018, the far right has been responsible for 73% of domestic extremist-related fatalities, according to a 2019 study by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). Not only does Trump ignore the terrorism that is enacted by white-nationalists he wishes to use his racist rhetoric and agenda to attack latinos crossing the border by calling them, rapists and drug traffickers. He even a couple weeks ago during the first presidential debate refused to denounce white supremacy. I think this a good segway now to your “Obama created the border situation’ topic.
Yes Obama created that whole situation, but why? There was a huge influx of immigration coming from Central America known as the Northern Triangle. It was such a huge amount of immigrants that the U.S couldn’t have processed them all. So Obama created a deal saying that we put these families in cages for no more than 24 hours, and they will be let go after that. Trump further escalated the situation by creating the family separation legislation and by allowing for these people to stay there for longer than 24 hours. Under Trump’s administration the conditions of the camps have rapidly deteriorated, resulting in sickness and infection. So yes Obama created it but did Trump have to continue it? No.
Now onto systematic racism. I think it’s widely agreed upon that Trump denies the existence of systematic racism and has no plan on fixing it. Black lives matter was created as a way to help bring attention to this. What did Trump do? Focus on the few looters and invalidate the whole organization. Not to mention that he doesn’t agree with any sort of protesting on the matter, even to such a small degree as to kneeling during the anthem. The question I ask to Trump supporters is what’s the right way to protest? We kneel and don’t stand during the anthem and it is said we are traitors. We go onto the streets trying to bring attention to lives lost due to police brutality and we are met with tear gas. So tell me why I should vote for a president who doesn’t even want to see me protesting? Meanwhile, he says white supremacists rallies have good people and didn’t condemn Kyle Rittenhouse, the man who shot and killed two protestors.
Now onto economics, if you look at any graph from any decent source, you can see that there was an established trend from the Obama administration. Anyone with a brain will realize this and that Trump’s actions (pre-COVID) didn’t significantly affect the economy either badly or well — he just piggybacked off of a preexisting trend. And obviously, as he inherited a good and —- key word — already improving economy, unemployment did initially go down amongst all races. You can’t point to unemployment numbers for African Americans and say he’s “the least racist person in the room” when it’s a continuing trend that he had little to no impact upon.BUT his most significant impact on the economy was when it crashed due to his handling of COVID. Yeah, it’s a virus that he can’t control but we’ve seen countries all over the world — developed countries — handle it much much better. Trump chose to ignore the problem and instead blamed China for letting it get into our country. Trump around February said there would be no predicted deaths and would be contained to the 15 cases. Boy was he wrong. The U.S. leads the world in the most Covid cases and deaths. As he said, America is always the best. He refused to shut down the country because he didn’t want his “booming economy” to crash. He ignored the problem and watched millions of Americans deal with the repercussions of his actions. He even was found out saying “he down-played” the whole situation. Thank you, Mr. President. While hundreds of thousands of American families will have someone missing at the thanksgiving table this year (remember: 231,000 Americans), at least you made sure people didn’t panic. Oh wait, they did! We all remember the time where grocery stores didn’t even have enough toilet paper. Or not to mention the fact that he said to inject yourself with bleach. Or the time when he said not to listen to science. What a smart dude!
In conclusion you don’t just settle for Trump. You are voting for a man who won’t acknowledge climate change. You are voting for a man who wouldn’t publicly denounce white supremacy. You’re voting for a man who paid less taxes than people who made 1000 times less than him. You are voting for a man who will never take responsibility for his own actions. The president right now is a joke. We are a joke to the world. So you can say 4 more years of Trump might save “small businesses”, even though this statistically isn’t true, we will see people of color continue to face abuse from the system, women lose control over their body, and people of the LGBTQ community who might not even be able to adopt a child. That’s what’s at stake this election. So there is a good reason liberal’s platform is to “get him out”.
Timothy Perrin • Nov 2, 2020 at 10:09 pm
Looking through this article is more than a little thought provoking. Well, thought provoking and sickening. There maybe is something to be said for “letting both sides present their cases and letting the reader make the decision” which, as I spotted the pro-Biden article, is something maybe being tried here. If so, it has been done incredibly poorly or in very bad taste. All of this writing on Trump’s record is less like a balanced “objective” article, and more like a slavish repeating of Donald Trump’s re-election campaign slogans. It is not just that the writer has ignored the very real and very clear damages of the Trump presidency, but that she has swept them under the rug and claimed the opposite.
The healthcare argument makes no sense, especially in an unbiased view of what the repeal of the ACA has actually done for Americans. Anyone who claims they were a Bernie supporter should know that healthcare in this country is not affordable and will never be so long as bosses and insurance companies are the ones who decide the prices and plans of insurance. Moreover, it would seemingly be impossible to forget when discussing healthcare to at least mention the overwhelming crisis that has been in everyone’s lives since April. The Trump presidency’s response to the Coronavirus pandemic has been awful, barbaric, heinous, scandalous, nefarious and any other number of synonyms possible for what is one of the most widely condemnable failures of any world leader of the twenty first century. It is laughable that there can be any achievements lauded to President Trump for his healthcare management. His actions are defined only by the most cruel ideas. One cannot simply claim that Donald Trump offers “a scientific and medical progression” when he calls this just a flu and encourages actions that put more at risk, if only to suit his own political gain.
What makes even less objective sense is the idea that Donald Trump has directly benefited the economy. Any of the Republican’s tax cuts or repeals of protections for businesses have greatly detrimental effects, especially on the small businesses this article seems to care so much about. All of his policies are just repetitions of Reagan-era economics, which villainously ran ram shod over the poor, ailing and working class of this country for decades, even after Reagan died. The skyrocket rise of big business today can be traced directly to him and the money he gave to their shareholder’s bank accounts. Endorsing a repeat of such policies now is fraudulent, especially with the justification of “small business”. Oh, and the idea that Donald Trump represents a non-racist, all American president just because minority unemployment coincidentally fell during his presidency is again, laughable.
This comment is already too long to address the environment, but he pulled out of the Paris Agreement, still refuses to acknowledge Climate Change as real and supports coal and oil barons. This is another facet of his presidency that is somehow not reported in this article.
Finally, the writer covers his foreign policy, claiming that she was really sold on his racist, xenophobic and wholly destructive “America First” policy. Except his racist, xenophobic and wholly destructive was reintroduced as a wonder-star performance to shock the decade. But all cited examples, and indeed all possible examples of his foreign policy are in some way xenophobic, racist and/or destructive. Withdrawing from the Iran Nuclear Deal puts the world closer to global conflict, and so does starting a trade war with China. “Improved Vetting and screening for refugees” is a cover for the criminalization of asylum seeking and separation of children at the border. Some may say that supporting a candidate doesn’t mean supporting their worst excesses, but in reality all of Donald Trump’s foreign policy actions are worst excesses. To support Donald Trump’s foreign policy seems to really be supporting barbarity and cruelty backed up by the most base fearmongering and racist justifications.
Donald Trump refuses to condemn white supremacy, blatantly dog whistles in national broadcasts and has a terrible record on such a racist polices, stretching back to when he and his dad were convicted in court of denying people of color from staying in their owned residences.
The Biden criticism is absolutely right, but the writer misses the point of “Settle for Biden”. Its not that Biden is in any way desirable, its that the worst excesses of any corrupt, plutocratic regime Biden could create would not match the repealing of rights for the most vulnerable minorities in society that the first Donald Trump presidency created, and that another Trump presidency would lead to.
Secondary Note: Nice job with the “All Lives” in the last sentence, real subtle.
Bailey Dagner • Nov 2, 2020 at 10:04 pm
I truly think that the editor who wrote this will look back in embarrassment once she’s had a chance to leave the Grandview bubble. It’s easy to be blind to your own privilege when you’re surrounded by fellow predominantly white, upper middle class peers, which is why I’m guessing this opinion piece reeks of it. “Settling” for a leader that blatantly stands against women, the LGBTQ+ community, people of color and the disabled, doesn’t “support America, freedom, individuality, small businesses, all lives, and common sense” it’s ignorant and offensive.
Shreya Suri • Nov 2, 2020 at 9:45 pm
Unfortunately, as I look through this article and the comments I’m honestly shocked. Sure, Trump’s “done great things” for America. But honestly, where do you draw the line? The problem with saying that yes, Trump has done terrible things, but look at Biden he’s done terrible things too is that you can’t uplift someone by putting down someone else. They both suck. I think settling for Biden is settling for the lesser of two evils. I cannot sit and watch people “support” either candidate wholeheartedly and sing their praises — they’re politicians.
However, my bigger concern with not only the article but (some) of the comments is the lack of discussion when it comes to race. His rhetoric alone is cause for concern and honestly, it’s ridiculous to say oh well Biden had these views too. Biden did have terrible views but if you actually looked at his policies today — you know the stuff that actually matters — you can see how he has clearly made a plan to try and combat systemic racism in America. Is Trump effectively going to combat racism? Any president we have needs to be actively working towards fixing systemic racism. While he’s not at fault for the existence of racism in America, you can’t say he’s not responsible for it now. They chose the job. They’re supposed to be working towards a better America.? Mary L. Trump, Trump’s own NIECE has said that she has heard her uncle say anti-Semitic slurs as well as the n-word. Micheal Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer has also said that Trump has said things such as “Tell me one country run by a Black person that isn’t a s–it hole”. He is racist and plays into racist rhetoric. Kung flu, s–it hole countries, Mexican rapists, the islamophobia, his treatment of the Central Park Five, telling the Proud Boys to stand by, there are countless things he’s directly said that have contributed directly to the xenophobia and hatred in this country. Counties that hosted Trump rallies in 2016 have experienced a 226% in hate crimes.Are we really under any impression that this man — who had said and encouraged such degrading, terrible things — is truly going to effectively combat systemic racism? This information is all a quick google search away. It would be ignorant to say that he isn’t racist.
Beyond just social issues let’s talk about the economy. The economy has “boomed” under Trump right? So why do many economists say that you can’t attribute any of that to Trump? That the economy has remained at the exact same growth path it has been for the past decade. There is no sharp turn or impact that can be directly attributed to Trump or Trump sponsored legislation. . The economy was doing good pre-COVID because the economic growth was handed to him. Unemployment rates were falling at the same consistent rate. Sure, he didn’t harm it. But Trump was in no way directly responsible for all of the things he praises about the American economy. The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs cost a trillion dollars and it hasn’t significantly changed employment or investment rates. This is also a quick google search away but I will say that overall, from the numerous articles I have read on this topic you cannot just attribute this “great” economy to Trump.
Finally, let’s talk about this pandemic. Are we going to sit here and say that Trump was the best person to deal with this pandemic because honestly I don’t think he was and he definitely won’t be going into the next year. You claim that his plan follows a scientific and medical progression. Does Trump believe in science? Why was the first time he wore a mask in public on July 12, 2020? Is that listening to science? Why did he mock Biden at the debates for wearing a mask and keeping safe — and then proceeded to get corona at the super-spreader event he hosted? Why can outbreaks be directly traced to his rallies? Why does he say that the only reason the US has so many cases is that we have too many tests, and then proceeded to make it harder to get tests by cutting down funds for testing sites? Why does he consistently call it the China Virus instead of its actual SCIENTIFIC name? Why is it that there’s a clip of him acknowledging how deadly and dangerous COVID is but how he has to hide it from the public to prevent panic? I don’t know about you but if Trump took this seriously earlier and just let Americans know of the pandemic instead of letting so many Americans deny its existence for so long, I personally think we would’ve been so much better off. He doesn’t believe in science — it’s clear — it doesn’t matter what his plan says. It’s what he IS DOING to deal with this pandemic now. And it’s not looking too good to me.
Sure, let’s “settle for Trump”. I honestly hope you look at why people don’t want him instead of singing his praises and hoping that people won’t call out where he’s wrong.
Isabel Dalmer • Nov 2, 2020 at 9:05 pm
I’m not going to mince words. This was absolutely revolting to read. You have developed a rhetoric supporting a criminal who has spent every second of his time in office promoting the marginalization of groups who have faced so much strife and oppression throughout the history of this country. This article is full of molded and cherry picked content that is often inaccurate and sifts through mountains of the horrific and vile thing Donald Trump has done as some sort of sick justification for supporting him. You have chosen the side of a man who brazenly stands against human rights, and you are therefore promoting yourself as someone who disrespects and demeans the lives of people of color, women, members of the LGBTQ community, and so many more. I honestly can’t believe that you would peddle such aggressively doctored content to your peers. I genuinely thought you were better than this. Biden sucks, and I don’t like him. He’s done a lot of crappy stuff, but the sum evils of what he’s done pales in comparison to even individual transgressions of Biden’s. This is despicable.
Jalen D. Silas` • Nov 2, 2020 at 8:43 pm
Putting my two cents into this, my issue with the current President of the United States is his irresponsibility. When Covid-19 became a well-known issue, he knew back in February how bad it was, but he chose to downplay the virus. Even after having the virus himself, he chooses to continuously lie about cases and the death rate. He keeps telling the American people that we’re “Rounding the curve” or that we’re “Turning the Corner”, well yeah maybe we’ve turned so many corners that we’re back to where we started. He had, and will never have a plan to contain the virus unlike Joe Biden, he’s too much in a rush to re-open the economy so it reflects greatly on his legacy, he doesn’t care about the people who’ve died because of this virus. He chooses to downplay science and ignore it! He even suggested that he should fire Dr. Anthony Fauci. He ignores the CDC by hosting packed campaign events with thousands of people, not socially distant, barely any of them wearing masks. His ego is too large for him to take this seriously and because of this, I consider his presidency a complete failure. I’m not finished. He is unfit to be president of the United States. He has over 20 sexual assault allegations. It’s funny because conservatives claim to be Christian but are okay with a President who’s bragged about touching women on their privates.. Yeah, that’s definitely a “Christian” man… He tells a white supremacist militia to “Stand back and stand by” when asked to condemn them. For being a “successful” businessman, he’s filed for bankruptcy 6 times! He took over a striving and growing economy left to him by the previous administration. It’s facts! Trump loves to claim he’s helped the black community, and that he’s dropped the unemployment rate, simply false! The trend was set by President Obama! The Black unemployment rate steadily improved, dropping to 5.4 percent at its bottom in August 2019, compared to 7.5 percent when Trump took office in January 2017, but that’s because he was given a strong economy His presidency is built off of fear-mongering, and lies. I am registered as an independent, but I am settling for Joesph Biden.
Julia C • Nov 2, 2020 at 7:56 pm
Nice article, you’ve compiled a lot of information very nicely. I wouldn’t call it “cherry-picking”, more like highlighting. He has done a lot of good things and has not been the downfall of America that many thought he was going to be and continue to believe he is. I was kind of surprised by the other comments here essentially condemning you/others for “supporting” Trump. Many politicians or other influential figures have done something very detrimental by fear mongering to an extent that I think is pretty incredible. Michelle Obama said to “Vote for Biden like your life depends on it–because it does”. Like, how is that not crazy? Honestly with that rhetoric instilled into people’s minds, I shouldn’t have been surprised to find such animosity towards people who say they are going to vote for Trump. And no, voting for someone doesn’t associate you with every single one of their views or actions. Of course it is disgusting that Trump has sexual allegations against him, and a lot of the things he’s said about women in the past is pretty horrid. But if you support Biden (also an alleged predator), that doesn’t mean you support corruption, his past racism, or his alleged sexual allegations or every single word he’s ever said. I don’t believe that Trump has influenced the racial tensions in the US to the extent people blame him. First off, he’s only been in office for four years, not for the hundreds of years that racism has existed in this country. Secondly, he has greatly decreased unemployment for minorities (and for everyone else), which is one of the main things that will help communities who have bad school systems, high crime rates, etc since money and jobs often help to begin solving these problems. Moreover, the places where there is the MOST tension and riots are the places that democrats have controlled for decades. It’s hilarious to blame Trump for the problems going on in communities like Portland and Detroit. This is literally like when right-wingers say “Thanks, Obama” when encountered with a random problem they believe was his fault even though he’s been out of office for 4 years. Anyways, basically I’m trying to say that a lot of your points are valid and people shouldn’t get hate just because they’re voting for “the wrong person”.
Honestly the main point for me that would convince me to vote for Trump not mentioned here is how Biden is almost certainly going to pack the courts if elected. This would be a terrible mistake and breaking a precedent set over a hundred years ago, not only opening the next president to do the same thing, but also further dividing the country with this awful and frankly vengeful decision. But yeah. Anyways, just vote. For whoever you think is right–and don’t condemn others if they don’t vote for who you want (which should be an obvious point of respect, but apparently it’s not).
Anjali Kalagiri • Nov 2, 2020 at 7:48 pm
You so heavily cherry pick Trump’s actions and legislation.
In terms of the economy you only talk about pre-COVID numbers, which, at least in the first year or two, were heavily influenced by Obama era legislation. Furthermore, even with a booming economy, Trump added trillions of dollars onto the national debt.
For the environment, you talk about legislation he signed without even addressing that he calls climate change a “hoax” or the fact that he exited the Paris Climate Accords.
In terms of Medicare, you don’t address his attempts to repeal protections for preexisting conditions and adults on their parents’ insurance. Sure he makes promises, but there is so little he follows through on.
You don’t address the rise in hate crimes and domestic terrorism under Trump.
Ultimately, in the words of Ronald Reagan, Americans have to ask, are we better off today than we were four years ago? For BIPOC, women, the LGBTQ community, the middle class, people who believe in science, and a variety of other groups, the answer is probably no.
Aaryn Mathias • Nov 2, 2020 at 7:18 pm
One of the biggest issues in our country right now is race — something that isn’t even remotely addressed in this article. Your critique of the 1994 crime bill indicates you believe that institutionalized racism is an issue in this country; however, you never address how President Trump has or will fix this issue. The issue being that Trump sees no issue with the way justice is served in this country. Instead he likes to gloat over the fact that African American unemployment was the lowest it’s every been under his presidency comparing himself to Abraham Lincoln in the process. When asked about law enforcement, Vice President Pence says he, “Trusts our justice system.” Doesn’t your critique on the crime bill and this administration’s position on law enforcement inherently contradict each other? Obviously your last sentence of supporting common sense doesn’t apply. You cherry pick your points to try and support your argument, knowing that Trump’s America is not welcoming to POC.
Also, no matter who you vote for, you are voting for the whole person. It is despicable to justify his divisive rhetoric and sexual assault allegations to favor his policy views. You can’t just ignore the harmful effects he has had on our country. Taking a look at simple hate crime statistics in the past decade should support my view. The person who holds the highest office in the land should not be a predator no matter how well they have executed policy. If anyone had as many sexual assault allegations as that man has, no matter what job they applied for, they would be rejected immediately. So how did we come to the point where he is allowed to lead our country and hold the office of president? It is despicable and shameful to support someone as harmful as President Trump.
Arianna Behboudi • Nov 2, 2020 at 6:08 pm
I can’t believe I have to go to school with trump supporters. This is disgusting.