During the Republican Primary season, 10 million Americans choose to vote for a billionaire real estate magnate who’s political rhetoric was unlike anything ever seen in these United States. Celebrated for being “authentic” and “telling it how it is” (whatever that means), many voters opted for a shock to the system over an more traditionally ideologically driven candidate. In spite of his anti-establishment appeal, there are still so many reasons that Americans should be wary of The Trump, here are just a few of them.
Presidents should, you know, talk intelligently.
If you listen to Donald Trump for more than 30 seconds, it quickly becomes clear that his grasp on the English language is minimal. His constant repetitions of small words and a stump speech that seems to contain no words longer than four letters. In fact, one study found he had the worst grammar of any candidate in the race, speaking at the level of a fifth grader.
Presidents can’t be “meh” about the rule of law.
In a speech at a rally earlier this summer, Trump attacked a hispanic judge who was born and raised in Indiana as being a “Mexican,” implying that the judge’s heritage was disqualifying to be a member of the judiciary. Trump later said that if her were president this judge would be removed from office, based solely on his heritage. This isn’t how our system of government has been allowed to work for more than 200 years, Trump does not understand that and would be a major threat to that system.
Presidents should respect our men and women serving in the military, especially POWs
At one event in 2015, Donald Trump attacked Senator John McCain because he was captured during the conflict in Vietnam and held as a prisoner of war. While many Americans of all political stripes, including this one, see Senator McCain as a real American hero who never gave up on his country and has continued to serve the public ever since, Donald Trump seems unable to respect people who don’t win as much has he does.
Presidents always have good hair and big hands.
It is a simple fact of life, that no President can have hair that looks like a dead squirrel and be allowed to host a State dinner or represent the US abroad. Also every president ever has had big hands, so Trump is physically disqualified.
Presidents should respect Women.
Throughout his entire campaign Trump has had a spotty record with comments about women. From attacking Fox show host Megan Kelly for having “blood coming out of wherever” to implying that only women of a certain physical set can be beautiful. The list goes on and on, but clearly this attitude of degradation towards more than half the US population is unacceptable. Click here to see a video of all Trump’s insults against women.
Presidents should respect disabled Americans
During a campaign event Trump is again found delivering personal attacks against someone just because they disagree with him. This time Trump mocks a disabled reporter who suffers from a condition which impairs the movement of his arms. This would be unacceptable behavior on the playground, but is disgusting and unbelievable from a candidate for president. Watch the video of trump mocking the reporter here.
Presidents should be able to follow through on their campaign promises.
While many Americans think that the President can and should be held responsible for every action of the federal government and the state of the economy, presidents are severally restricted by their relationship with Congress. This will make it difficult for a Trump Presidency to achieve any of the plans he has founded his campaign on, because many members of Congress, especially the Senate, have run from his bombastic rhetoric and nativist yelling.
Presidents should not be being investigated for their deceitful business ventures.
It may not have gotten much play in the primary season, but one of Trumps many failed business ventures was Trump University. This venture which was forbidden by the State of New York to even call itself a university was, plain and simple, a con. The program worked to get people to pay massive fees for “classes” on business that often never lead to any kind of business accomplishment, yet caused a massive amount of debt for its would be students. Maybe the US voters should be wary of voting for a known con artist.
Presidents who claim to be good at business should, well, be good at business.
After inheriting the massive majority of his money from his father Trump has been bankrupt no less than four times. He often fails to pay contractors who help build the very buildings which made his name iconic. Many of his business ventures, like Trump Steaks, Trump Wine and Trump Airlines, were abject failures. So many Americans believe Trump can turn this country around because of his business success, but if he does to America what he has done to his companies, the US will be run into the ground if a matter of years. (Complete list of Trump’s Business failures here)
Presidents should understand the basics of international relations.
Mexico will never pay for any American government expense, much less a wall on its border built on the principle that Mexicans are lesser people, unworthy to be Americans. Iran is not going to negotiate a “better” nuclear deal, just because Trump is Trump. Brexit was an international catastrophe. Donald Trump does not seem to understand the rules of the world stage, something that is quite essential for a world leader.
Presidents should understand the limitations on their own authority and finances.
Even if Donald Trump were to realize that Mexico will never pay for the border wall, he should realize that it would be prohibitively expensive even for the United States to build. It covers more than a thousand miles, and if it were 40 feet tall like he has claimed, would be composed of millions of square feet of concrete. Check out John Oliver’s video on the topic.
Presidents should understand what has made America great so far.
While attacking nearly every minority group in the country, belittling immigrants and mocking the poor while promising to make America great again, Trump has missed the point. While America may not be perfect and has a fair share of problems, the United States still stands as an example of democracy, freedom and opportunity the world over. We have been made great by the melting pot of ideas, cultures and religions which have come together to make the incredible country we are today. Trump’s nationalist xenophobic fear-mongering is everything that America has fought against, (literally in the World Wars), not what has made America great.
Presidents should seek to unite American, not divide it.
It may seem like a no brainer that a President must lead all Americans during their time in office, it is apparently something Trump seems to miss about the job with the Oval Office. We need a president who will be willing to work with people who disagree with them not mock their differences. We need a president who cares about the plight of the working class, the poor and the immigrant, not one who vilifies them as the cause of all America’s problems. Americans are becoming more and more divided, we need a national unifier, not divider.
Presidents should have a ideology or cohesive plan for the country.
Unlike many of the candidates in the race for the White House, Trump lacks any kind of unifying belief system about the nature of America and the solutions necessary to solve its problems. He is not a conservative, bend of lower taxes. Nor is he really a liberal as he demeans social security programs like food stamps and unemployment. He is not even a libertarian as he seeks to get the government involved in defining religious tests who can be American.
Presidents should understand how to use their campaign dollars ethically.
Interestingly, while the Billionaire claims to be self financing his campaign he barely had 2 million dollars in the bank at the last filing deadline. Along with this lack of money, the money he does have has often been directly primarily towards his own business ventures by reimbursing his children for travel expenses, paying for nights in Trump hotels and charging the campaign to hold events at Trump venues.
Presidents should not seek out relationships with dangerous dictators who hate America.
King Jong Un of North Korea, and Vladimir Putin of Russia are probably the two more serious enemies of the Untied States in the world today and Donald Trump has said he will have a good relationship with both of them. He even said he respects some of what Putin has done in Russia, notably cracking down on his opponents, outlawing being gay and actively seeking conflict with Europe. These are not American values and no US president should claim to be friendly toward this kind of leader.
Presidents should understand the value of strong allies.
Trump has repeatedly criticized the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) which the US has been a part of since the end of the end of the Second World War. He has mentioned reconsidering the US relationship with this linch-pin of international security and attacked allies for not supporting the project to the same degree as the US. Both of these contradictory options about NATO are frighting to our allies and threaten American security around the globe.
President should run their campaign like they will run their White House.
Throughout the primary season, Donald Trump got by with a minuscule campaign team while Hillary was constructing a massive national operation. This thread has continued. As team Hillary builds a shadow White House, the Trump campaign has struggled to muster an intelligent public relations team, while replying the campaign manager who helps him win the primary and failing to rally a substantial set of policy advisors.
Presidents should understand the party structure and support their supporters.
As the would-be-leader of the Republican Party, Donald Trump should understand that value of having other members of government support his agenda and making sure they remain in office. While Speaker Ryan has fought hard to help republicans get elected and stay in office. Trump has repeatedly made comments that threaten swing-state Senators and representatives forcing his own party to run from his campaign, dividing the party which should be his greatest ally.
Presidents should be Presidential.
The President of the Untied States is often called the Leader of the Free World. This title comes with the most hefty set of responsibilities of any job in the world. It cannot be taken lightly, demeaned by its would be occupant or treated as a trophy of business success. No president has been perfect, but until now all candidates for the president have made clear that they understand the weight of the job. America cannot afford a president who can not be presidential.