With the primary elections coming up, each candidate is trying to get as much face time as possible, get their name out there and win over the masses. Out of the 14 Republican candidates, there are a few that are getting more media attention than others: Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and Donald Trump. While the first four are candidates with legitimate potential to win the Republican nomination and eventually the presidential election, Donald Trump is garnering an excess of unwarranted and downright laughable media attention.
The phrase “future President” isn’t the first thought that comes to mind for most people when they hear the name Donald Trump. It’s generally not the second, or third, or fourth thought they have either. Most people think of arrogance, bad hair, real estate moguls, and childish use of social media when they think of the Donald.
Donald Trump announcing his candidacy caused a great deal of disbelief throughout the nation, given his lack of experience, maturity and that he’s more popular for his reality TV show than any form of political prowess. However, it was during his announcement speech that it became known exactly how unfit Trump is for the role of President. He maintained the description of “arrogant,” added on the description of “racist,” and made people wonder why a clown like him ever made it to the podium.
Trump spent little time talking about real political issues and instead flaunted his wealth, his golf courses, and how he’s more successful than other candidates because of this, saying things like, “I have a Gucci store that’s worth more than Romney." During his discussion on political issues, most of his points come back to talking about his money. When addressing terrorism, Trump says, “Islamic terrorism is eating large portions of the Mideast. They’ve become rich. I’m in competition with them.” Oh, what a time to be alive where someone believes the bigger threat from terrorism is wealth competition rather than potential attacks.
When talking about China, Trump brings it back to his real estate business, saying, “I like China. I just sold them an apartment for $15 million. Am I supposed to dislike ‘em?” Last time I checked, our relationship with China was about trade negotiations and outsourcing jobs, not how much an apartment sold for. Speaking of jobs, Trump proved just how arrogant he can be, saying, “I will be the greatest jobs president that God ever created.”
While there are many notable parts of Trump’s announcement speech, the most notable would be his thoughts on immigration and how he plans to deal with that. Trump added “racist” to people’s views of him and caused his reality TV show to be cancelled when he said, “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you... They’re sending people that have lots of problems and they’re bringing those problems with them. They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists, and some, I assume, are good people.”
Generalizing an entire group of people as drug-dealing rapists who may or may not have a few good people among them did not sit well with the majority of Americans. Unless Trump has met every Mexican who’s crossed the border and knows without a shadow of a doubt that they deal drugs and commit crimes, he has no basis to say what he did. It was an extremely racist, insensitive and offensive comment, only made worse by his solution of building a “great wall on our southern border" that he plans to make Mexico pay for.
Donald Trump has never been mistaken for a political genius in the past and people have scoffed at his previous thoughts of running for President. He’s very capable of showing that he’s unfit to be President on his own, yet the media still gives him the attention that legitimate candidates deserve. The reality is, Trump is running for President to gain more wealth and fame for himself, not out of love for this country. It’s time for Trump to go back to real estate and his now-canceled reality TV show, and leave the politics to the politicians.