Real estate “mogul” and reality TV star Donald Trump is the Republican nominee for the 2016 presidential election. Yes, the orange man with the mysterious comb-over is months away from potentially being our commander-in-chief. If, a year ago, someone told you that Donald Trump would not only throw his hat into the race but actually win primaries left and right, you would have thought that person was delusional. But no, this is real life; this is actually happening.
So what platform is Trump running on that makes him loved by so many? Hate. For the past year, Trump has gone in front of crowds throughout the U.S. and preached nothing but hate. Who are the targets? Apparently, Mexicans, immigrants, Muslims and anyone who is not white. But don’t worry, women and people with disabilities also get a healthy dose of Trump’s hatred. Let’s take a stroll down the campaign trail to remember his thoughts and ideas for his pending presidency.
On Mexicans: “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
On Muslims: “”Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on,” a campaign press release said.”
Trump’s xenophobic rants always seem to get a rise from his most passionate supporters. His words incite violence and reinforce the “us against them” mentality, which is dangerous and only divides the country even more.
And here’s what Trump has to say about women:
Megyn Kelly: “You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her wherever.”
Carly Fiorina: “Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?!”
Hillary Clinton: “Even a race to Obama, she was gonna beat Obama. I don’t know who would be worse, I don’t know, how could it be worse? But she was going to beat — she was favored to win — and she got schlonged, she lost, I mean she lost.”
And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Trump has demeaned women throughout his life especially when he feels attacked, which apparently is quite often.
On people with disabilities: “”Now the poor guy, you gotta see this guy,’ he continued, before launching into an apparent impression of Mr Kovaleski, waving his arms around with his hands at an odd angle.” Kovaleski suffers from a joint condition known as arthrogryposis.
Yet even by making all of these outrageous comments, Trump continues to win over voters. He is winning his fight against “political correctness” through hateful, ignorant rhetoric devoid of any policy discussion. The President of the United States needs to be someone who can have an intelligent conversation with other world leaders — not someone who hides behind Twitter and calls people names when things get tough.