President Donald J. Trump. When he ran for office, many thought it was a joke, and if that is true, it’s the most elaborate practical joke in all of American history, a joke that ceased to be funny once he took office and his actions started to have real practical implications on people’s lives.
Why I seldom like to write about this man is simple. It’s overdone, and I feel like I can rarely add anything new to the conversation. I also don’t like to give the man attention, though I do realize that now that he’s president, it is more important than ever for his actions and words to be dissected, analyzed, and shown to everyone to see for the sake of making him responsible for his own actions. Despite what he might think, he does not operate in a consequence-free zone, as he has managed to polarize his own party and alienate America’s alliances around the world, not to mention a vast majority of Americans – some who voted for him, but now feel betrayed. A 39.6 percent (according to FiveThirtyEight) approval rating speaks for itself.
Another reason why I dislike writing about the man is because his missteps are so numerous and so blatant that there’s nothing I can really say about him that he hasn’t proved himself. Insulting a Gold Star family, pocketing a veteran’s Purple Heart as if it were a dollar bill (doubly ironic considering Trump was a draft dodger himself), suggesting that we should build a wall because he thinks some Mexicans are criminals and rapists (again, very ironic considering the sexual misconduct allegations levied against him, even before he took office), suggesting that we replace food stamps with food boxes and of course his infamous “grab them by the p—-“ comment, which can be interpreted as an open confession to sexual assault that should have subjected him to immediate impeachment charges upon taking office – there is nothing to be said about him. He is a contradictory, incompetent president who only remains in office because Republicans control a majority in the House and Senate, and because many see his potential replacement, Vice President Mike Pence, to be far worse, if only because Pence has somewhat of an idea of how to work with Republicans to get the legislation he wants passed.
Even if we vote Trump out of office come 2020, his presidency will have profound negative impacts on this country for generations to come. I myself suspect that his most extreme proposals are farces meant to conceal the legislation that he really wants to pass, adhering to the rules of negotiation, in which it is unwise to reveal your true intentions; which would stand to benefit him and his constituents for years to come, while junking major government programs when we’re not looking.