Things That People Get Wrong about Donald Trump
- In American Elections 2016
- 07:21 PM, Aug 17, 2016
- Ram Desabhotla
Donald John Trump. He has been a hot topic in politics these past two years. Ever since he declared his candidacy for Office in 2015, the media has been all over him. His ideas have been polarizing voters since, and whether people love Trump, or utterly despise him, everyone in the USA has an opinion about “The Donald”. Those who like him speak for him, and those who oppose him do so emphatically. I have noticed though, that some who oppose Trump have said things that I feel aren’t backed up. So I would like to counter some of these points.
Before I continue, I would like to point out that I’m not affiliated with Donald Trump’s campaign. I am also not essentially a Trump or Hillary supporter. I know that each candidate has his/her strengths and weaknesses. I also recognize that everyone is entitled to their own opinions and preferences; however, I have found a couple of statements made by some who oppose Trump to be a little bit rash. And so, I decided to put a different perspective on them. First off…
All Trump supporters are ignorant and stupid…
It’s one thing when people want to have a dialogue about both candidates and debate their policies, but it’s another thing to spit out statements like this. First off, I know some Trump supporters. Many are educated and successful people; however they still support Trump because, as a woman I met at a Trump rally stated, they “are just tired of where the country is heading.” They have seen how illegal immigration has taken low-skilled jobs away from America’s poorer communities, how disastrous trade deals like NAFTA have resulted in estimated millions of manufacturing jobs lost, and how debt has surged by $8 trillion during Obama’s 8-year term. And, as Trump aggressively spoke out against these and more, they support him.
A statement like this takes none of these into account. Rather than understanding why people support Trump, these people against Trump label all Trump supporters a certain way. And besides, I find it odd how those who dislike Trump do so, in part, as they feel that he stereotypes a great deal, yet they are okay with stereotyping his supporters. I find it very hypocritical.
Trump hates Mexicans…
You don’t need a PhD to be able to figure out how this belief came about. When announcing his candidature for US Office, Donald Trump said, “When Mexico sends its people… they’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.” This sparked great criticism from Democrats and other American citizens who condemned Trump for labelling Mexican immigrants as such, especially since he didn’t specify that he was talking about illegal immigrants. However, we have to understand that Trump, in fact, WAS talking about illegal immigrants.
We know this, as soon after that, he mentions that he spoke to the border police about these issues. He wouldn’t have talked to the border police if this issue encompassed legal Mexicans as well. And besides, if Trump hated Mexicans, he wouldn’t bother speaking about job policies for poor Latino communities, whose members have migrated from Mexico. The fact that he does this shows that he cares for Mexicans in America. He, just like many other Americans, only has a problem with the Mexican immigrants who come here illegally.
But, a small diversion, let’s analyze the reasons behind this quote. One of the reasons why people support Trump is because he says what people want to hear. When Trump talks, he doesn’t filter himself. He says what is on his mind, for better or for worse. Unlike many other politicians, when Trump speaks, he says what people want to hear in the way they want to hear it. This is one thing that sets him apart from the other GOP candidates, and ends up polarizing voters in his favor.
As far as illegal immigration goes, many (if not, most) GOP supporters despise it. And when Trump talked about this at that speech, he didn’t just condemn it, he attacked illegal Mexican immigrants in the way that people wanted to hear him attack them. Along with this, he suggested building a wall between America and Mexico. It is huge ideas like this that make him stand out and win support of many Americans.
Four of Trump’s businesses went bankrupt, showing that if he is president, the economy will not be in good hands…
First off, Donald Trump has hundreds of companies, of which he filed for corporate (not personal) bankruptcy for only four of them. He never went into bankruptcy. He also filed for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, meaning that the company he filed for was allowed to stay in business while paying off its debt. This means that though ravaged by debt, Trump was still able to make money off of these companies.
And as for boosting the economy is concerned, Trump plans to reduce corporate tax from 35% to 15%. This will incentivize businesses to keep themselves in America without going to tax havens and setting up HQ in other nations for lower tax rates. This tax will make America a very competitive place for businesses to start up and function. Many small business owners have shown huge support for Trump largely due to his tax cuts (according to the Huffington Post). His huge income tax cuts will also further boost spending, which will further improve the US economy. However, this plan has been criticized for potentially increasing national debt.
Nevertheless, the fact that Trump went to bankruptcy court does not show that he will make terrible mistakes with the economy. These bankruptcies allowed him to make profits whilst being under debt, and only affected his personal finances once. He has also maintained hundreds of other businesses without declaring bankruptcy on them. This fact indicates nothing negative about how he will handle the economy. Only his policies can do that; but that, is a different debate.
Trump will cause World War III…
I have read two articles stating this. One came from the Huffington Post and read, “I mean this with only a touch of hyperbole: a Trump presidency right now would be a perfect recipe for World War III.” The author did mention that the statement would be a bit of a stretch, but essentially stated that Trump will cause huge a global conflict to spark. A reason cited was when Trump said “Islam hates us” in an interview with CNN and how that sentiment could lead to global conflict. Another was from ValueWalk, where an author stated that “Trump as president would be a recipe for disaster, and could spark World War III.” The reasons listed were this and that “He [Trump] does nothing to shift the image of the U.S.… which has come to be characterized by… willing to intervene without any subtlety.”
Now, when Trump said “Islam hates us,” he referred to the radical Islamic anti-American sentiment, not American Muslims. In Meet the Press 2015, Donald Trump has stated, “Well, I feel strongly that Muslims are excellent. I know so many Muslims that are such fabulous people… But the fact is, there is a problem with some. And it's a very severe problem… But I have such great respect and love for so many of the people. I mean, they are great people.” Here, Trump is saying that he respects Muslims as individuals, but that he only has an issue with radical Muslims. This is the same idea that he restates in 2016 when he said, “Islam hates us.” Even the Muslim ban idea that brought so much controversy was later clarified at the RNC to only suspend immigration from “any nation that has been compromised by terrorism until such time as proven vetting mechanisms have been put in place.” He does not hate Muslims, and will certainly not cause WWIII because of an anti-Muslim sentiment.
On intervention in international conflicts, Trump is generally against that too, unless “it [the conflict] had better pose a direct threat to our [America’s] interest,” as he stated in his book, “The America We Deserve.” He further states that “we must not get involved in a long-festering conflict for humanitarian reasons,” showing his generally anti-interventionism stance. So unlike what ValueWalk’s article states, Donald Trump has shown that he does not essentially support interventionism in all cases, an interventionism that sometimes led to anti-Western and anti-American sentiment, such as (many argue) the case of ISIS rising in Libya after the killing of Gaddafi.
I also assume that this belief that Trump will spark an international incident came about because of his habit of putting down some of those who he opposes, and the belief that he will do so against other American allies even after his supposed election to the White House. His slander may seem alarming, but we must consider what it has gotten him. He has received huge support for this as it makes him sound like normal people with people problems, not like a politically-correct politician. This has also given him tremendous amounts of publicity, receiving around $2 billion worth of free media whereas Hillary Clinton has only received around $800 million. This is the only point of his slandering.
Along with this, Trump is a very successful billionaire businessman, which he wouldn’t have become by plainly slandering those he didn’t like. He has pandered to politicians to establish rapport and has also met people across the world whom he had to negotiate with for his business. If he was rude to these people, he would have never gotten to where he is now. He cooperated with them, showing that he is capable of such, even with foreign leaders. Something that is essential to prevent a war such as World War III.
Along with this, Donald J. Trump is the only candidate who has said he will renew our relations with Russia, a nation that has had friction with America for a while now. Trump’s is actually a smart tactic to bring the world’s two biggest military superpowers closer. Putin has stated that he welcomes this, and that it may benefit Russia to have America as an ally. This gesture by Trump will certainly rule out the option of a war against Russia, a nation that many have predicted will oppose the US if WWIII ever happens.
All in all…
With the election rolling around this November, it is up to us to make the choice that will define our nation. We have to be smart. We have to analyze both points of view, and we have to make ourselves aware about the issues at hand. I’m not saying that either Trump or Clinton is the right choice; that is for the American populace to decide. All I am saying is, as shown here, it is very easy to follow mass hysteria. But as Americans, we have to rise above this and listen to every perspective; and then, we must make an educated choice because it will seal USA’s fate for years to come.
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