The 2016 race for the White House is unlike anything the American people have seen before. Democrats have nominated Hillary Clinton, who is known by some as an untrustworthy, selfish criminal. While Republicans have nominated Donald Trump who some Americans believe to be a cantankerous, misogynistic racist. From the beginning of the election season, Trump and Clinton have set records in regards to how much they are disliked by the American people. Regardless of America's distaste for the former Secretary of State and real estate tycoon, Trump and Clinton were both still able to secure their party's nominations. Trump officially accepted the nomination with a speech at the Republican National Convention on July 21, while Clinton made her acceptance speech at Democratic National Convention on July 28.
A candidate's convention speech is without hesitation the most crucial moment in the campaign so far. It offers candidates a massive platform to address America and potentially right any wrongdoings. Did Clinton and Trump take full advantage of this opportunity? I've compared fact-checked versions of both of speeches, and it is apparent that Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton are both guilty of distorting facts and twisting words. So, America, based on their convention speeches, who is the bigger evil between Clinton and Trump? Let's begin. Check here for the full fact-checked report of Trump's speech. Check here for Clinton's.
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Donald Trump's Convention Speech
Donald Trump blatantly stated that at the Republican Convention there would be no lies. Well, shockingly enough, Mr. Trump's acceptance speech boasted a plethora falsified points and contradictions. Here are a few of the biggest fallacies that stuck out to me.
"My opponent has called for a radical 550 percent increase in Syrian refugees on top of existing massive refugee flows coming into our country under President Obama. She proposes this despite the fact that there’s no way to screen these refugees in order to find out who they are or where they come from."
Oh really? Donald Trump must not know that all refugees admitted entry into the United States undergo an extremely lengthy and thorough screening process. It requires a multistep security clearance and is overseen by numerous government agencies. The process can usually take anywhere between 18 and 24 months. The individual attempting to gain entry is also checked throughout multiple federal databases, so if there is anything for the government to be concerned about, they'll know.
"We must abandon the failed policy of nation-building and regime change that Hillary Clinton pushed in Iraq, Libya, in Egypt, and Syria."
This is one of multiple examples of Trump contradicting statements he had made prior to clinching the Republican nomination. Donald Trump was the same person who voiced his support for the military removal of Moammar Gadhafi in Libya. Senator Ted Cruz reminded Mr. Trump of his contradictory words at a Republican debate in February, however, Trump denied and dismissed the claim. Too bad for Mr. Trump that he posted a YouTube video in 2011 in which he said, "We have soldiers all over the Middle East and we’re not bringing them in to stop this horrible carnage. And that’s what it is, a carnage. … Now we should go in. We should stop this guy which would be very easy and very quick."
"Millions of Democrats will join our movement, because we are going to fix the system so it works fairly and justly for all Americans."
Yet another farfetched claim from Mr. Trump. Polls have shown that a very slim margin of Democrats have pledged their support for Trump, less than 10 percent actually. The majority of Democrats (around 85 percent) plan to support Clinton in the general election. Recent polls have also shown that Trump is doing a better job at turning undecided voters away than he is at garnering their support.
Hillary Clinton's Convention Speech
Mrs. Clinton did seem to have one advantage over Trump in terms of these big speeches. The Republican National Convention took place a week prior to the Democratic National Convention, giving Clinton the opportunity to capitalize on any controversial or distorted points in Trump's speech. However, it seemed she focused more on taking things out of context in addition to using outdated figures. Let's take a look at some of the highlights from the fact-checked version of Clinton's speech.
"And most of all, don’t believe anyone who says: 'I alone can fix it.' Those were actually Donald Trump’s words in Cleveland. And they should set off alarm bells for all of us. Really? I alone can fix it? Isn’t he forgetting? Troops on the front lines. Police officers and fire fighters who run toward danger. Doctors and nurses who care for us. Teachers who change lives. Entrepreneurs who see possibilities in every problem. Mothers who lost children to violence and are building a movement to keep other kids safe. He’s forgetting every last one of us. Americans don’t say: 'I alone can fix it.' We say: 'We’ll fix it together.'”
This was without hesitation the first thing that stood out to me. In this instance, Mrs. Clinton took Mr. Trump's comment out of context and arguably blew it way out of proportion. When Donald Trump said that he could fix everything, he claimed that he was the only one who could fix a "rigged system" fueled by politicians because he isn't one himself. Within his speech, Trump remarked on multiple occasions about how he would not be able to lead the nation alone and how he is willing to appoint the right people to the right positions to move the country forward. Other members of the Democratic party are also guilty of misconstruing Trump's words following the Republican Convention.
"Wall Street, corporations, and the super-rich are going to start paying their fair share of taxes. Not because we resent success. Because when more than 90 percent of the gains have gone to the top 1 percent, that’s where the money is."
Clinton was relying on an outdated figure. Updated data has shown that contrary to popular belief, the top 1 percent of income earners have only acquired 52 percent of all income growth. The Clinton campaign attributed the use of the outdated statistic to an article from PolitiFact.com. Bernie Sanders is also often credited with popularizing the idea that only the top 1 percent have seen recent income gains because he pulled points for a speech from the same article.
“We will not build a wall.”
Interesting. Clinton made this statement as a direct rebuttal to Donald Trump's controversial plan regarding immigration. The irony of this is that Hillary Clinton (on more than one occasion) has supported the idea of adding more fencing to the Mexican border. In 2006, Clinton and a large group of Senators voted to add 370 miles of fencing to the border. Later in the year, Clinton voted on legislation to add upwards of 700 miles of fencing in addition to updated security to the southwest border. Looks to me like Hilldog was down to build that wall.
With less than 100 days to the general election, anything could happen. Perhaps we'll see these two candidates cut back on the lying and attacks on one another and focus on how they could be the best president possible. Or, perhaps, we'll see increased mudslinging and name calling. Who knows? It is ultimately the job of the voters to decide who is lesser of the two evils when they cast their ballots in November.
