It seems like every day some presidential candidate is making waves in the media, and that candidate is most often Donald Trump. He’s loud, extremely self-confident and he lacks a certain degree of tact — the perfect storm.
Trump has, from day one, alienated women, Mexican-Americans and numerous other groups of voters. He has relentlessly attacked his opponents on the stage of the debates, and last Wednesday was a perfect example of that. Before answering the question that was addressed towards him, Trump felt it necessary to point out that Rand Paul had only 1% in the polls, saying “he shouldn’t even be up here.”
This reaffirms exactly how Donald Trump stands. He is not running for president because he really truly believes he can do something to help save America. He is running for president because he craves power.
He has said he will forfeit the salary he receives as president, which is a noble gesture, but it again speaks to his true desires. He has money, he has fame, he wants absolute power. He wants to hold it over his opponents heads and taunt them like a middle school bully.
. He can’t be told he is wrong. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, wrote an opinions piece on Trump in the Washington Post early in September. Abdul-Jabbar criticized Trumps’ language and general attitude towards women and the remarks he made in the first GOP debate.
By writing this, Abdul-Jabbar simply exercised his freedom of speech, and as a result, Trump attacked him. He responded in a handwritten note scrawled over a printed copy of Abdul-Jabbar’s essay. Trump says that he knows “why the press treated [Abdul-Jabbar] so badly,” because they “couldn’t stand [him].” Trump tells the man that he doesn’t have a “clue about life and what needs to be done to make America great again.”
If this isn’t classic Trump, I don’t know what is. In tune with his usual pattern, he starts with a personal attack, then moves on to generic insults punctuated by his signature tagline. Not to mention he wrote it hastily over Abdul-Jabbar’s carefully written essay to insinuate Abdul-Jabbar’s words’ insignificance. He can dish out insults and criticism left and right, but he can’t take it. Sounds like a bully to me.
One of the opening questions posed at the debate last Wednesday was “Would you feel safe with Trump’s hands on the nuclear codes?” While the candidates on stage skirted around this question, I won’t. Would I feel safe with Donald Trump, the man attacking freedom of speech, women, immigrants and who knows what next, running my country? Absolutely not.
As voters approach the polls this year, I implore them to consider who you want to lead this nation the next four years. Do you want it to be an honest woman or man. Someone who values respect of all people and adheres to the constitution? Or should it be the middle school bully you thought was out of your life long ago? I think common sense trumps the latter.