My Facebook friend has asked me to explain why I fear a Trump presidency. I’ve been thinking about how to reply, but am thinking it would be a hopeless task. As I have said before, people believe what they want to believe. My friend, just like me, has watched the GOP debates and the primary campaign and the GOP convention and the Trump-Clinton debates and the rest of the campaign. If he doesn’t understand why I am afraid of a Trump presidency, how can I tell him.
He has seen Trump the bully. He has seen Trump the compulsive liar. He has seen Trump having juvenile temper tantrums. He has seen Trump defame Latinos, African Americans, Muslims, the handicapped, the parents of a dead GI, a Federal judge, women, John McCain for being captured in Viet Nam, and others. He has seen Trump using fear to divide the American people. He has seen Trump encourage violence against those who disagree with him. He has seen Trump accepting the support of white nationalist groups.
He has heard Trump support nuclear proliferation to Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia so we don’t have to defend them. He has heard Trump ask why, if we have nuclear weapons, we shouldn’t consider using them. He has heard Trump say that women who have abortions should be criminally punished. He has heard Trump say that he will unleash deportation squads who can stop people who don’t speak English and require them to prove they are in the country legally. He has heard Trump say that he will institute a national stop and frisk policy which will allow law enforcement officers to interfere with the civil liberties of dark-skinned people they consider suspicious looking.
He has heard Trump threaten his opponent with prosecution and jail, a behavior befitting a totalitarian dictator. He has heard Trump suggest that if he loses, the second amendment types might not have to accept the results, thus encouraging violence.
He has watched Trump, the demagogue, run a campaign fitting of a future dictator. He has watched Trump falsely claimed that the United States is a fallen country and that only he can make it great again. He has watched Trump falsely claim that the country is plagued with crime and that only he can bring us law and order. He has watched Trump charge that blacks and Latinos are responsible for most of the crime in our country. He has watched Trump blame all America’s problem to one religious minority and has promised to exclude them from our country.
He has heard Trump charge that the election is rigged against him. He has heard Trump suggest that his followers go to precincts in African American or Latino neighborhoods to intimidate people into not voting. We have heard trump attack the press and the media who oppose him and suggest that perhaps America has too much freedom of the press.
I could go on, but I just don’t think it would matter to my friend. He just won’t understand why I fear Donald Trump as president.
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