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Trump’s False Claims Stir Controversy Amid Election Season

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Howard chapter.

Former President Donald Trump is notorious for making false claims and speaking out of turn for personal gain.

As the campaign season for the upcoming election intensifies, Donald Trump has been repeatedly caught making false claims during his campaign speech on Jan 22, in New Hampshire. Trump’s insistence on various matters, especially when falsely implicating others for personal gain, is unacceptable.

His persistent fabrication of claims raises concerns about his current lead over Nikki Haley. Why would the United States want a president who seems incapable of being truthful, even with himself?

According to CNN, one of Trump’s particularly absurd claims is that there were no attacks during his presidency, especially by Islamic extremists. Contrary to his statement, the justice department asserted that the 2017 mass murder in New York City, which resulted in eight deaths and injuries, was a terrorist attack supporting ISIS. 

Kennedy Norman, a sophomore political science major at Howard, shares her perspective on Trump’s inconsistencies impacting the upcoming election. 

“The unfortunate reality about the people who vote for Trump is that most of the time they pay little to no attention to what he says and what he does,” said Norman. “They never acknowledge his extreme wrongdoings and consistently have his back no matter what. You would think that people would lose respect for a man who started an entire violent insurrection on January 6th after losing the 2020 election.”

Norman also discusses how the outcome of Haley’s votes will impact the election since more young Republicans have resonated with her social media presence.   

“I strongly believe that when it comes to young voters who can be easily swayed by social media’s theorems, with some simple research, you can easily find that Nikki Haley is a problematic and ignorant candidate similar to her counterparts in the GOP,” continued Norman. “I do believe, though, that Trump’s outrageous comments and extremely crazy conspiracy theories are making her look like the more sane and competent candidate for the republican party in the eyes of most voters.”

Additionally, the 2019 attack in Florida by an extremist member of Saudi Arabia’s military, killing three US servicemembers, was also deemed motivated by jihadist ideology by the justice department.

“Trump is wrong when he claims there were no terrorist attacks during his presidency,” according to The Washington Post. The Washington Post refutes Trump’s assertion, pointing to the authoritative global terrorism database maintained by the University of Maryland, which documents two major incidents tied to Islamist militants during his presidency, resulting in fatalities on Dec.17, 2017, and Dec.6, 2019.

According to ABC News, a nationwide review identified at least 54 criminal cases where Trump was directly connected to violent acts, threats of violence, or allegations of assault.

Trump’s consistent contradictions reveal a drive for personal gain and power, even if it means resorting to falsehoods necessary to win the election.

Roniya Johnson is a junior broadcast journalism major with a minor in political science at the illustrious Howard University. Hailing from Stamford, Connecticut, Roniya has discovered a passion for writing, interviewing, photography, and being in front of the camera. She is not only a member of HerCampus's content team but also serves as a co-content director for Howard’s chapter. In her free time, Roniya enjoys binge-watching Grey’s Anatomy or pampering herself. After graduating from Howard University, Roniya hopes to become the face and voice of radio while also writing for CNN.