On my most recent ride from the airport to the school I have called my home for the past couple of years, my cab driver and I got onto the topic of the presidential race. Now, normally, I try to avoid politics in conversation. Too many friendships are ruined by talking about politics; too many unnecessary arguments started over trivial differences in opinions. However, what started us on this topic was Donald Trump.
“He’s a spectacle,” said my cab driver. “He’s a spectacle and THAT’s why we watch him.”
It’s true. Watching Donald Trump run for president is much like watching a train wreck in action: so horrific that looking away is no longer an option.
Before I go any further, I want to note that Trump is ahead in the polls right now and I am aware of this depressing fact. What I am referring to, however, is all of the businesses that have withdrawn from their partnerships with Trump: Macy’s, NBC, ESPN, NASCAR, PGA, etc.
These businesses do not want to want to be associated with the imploding circus of a man that is Donald Trump. Between his racist and sexist comments and the way he deals with disagreements, who would?
The problem with Trump —what horrifies me most about his presidential campaign, really — is that he has no filter nor does he seem to have any semblance of maturity. If I am more mature than a presidential candidate who has a good 50 years on me, then I would say that’s a problem.
Should Trump become president, what guarantee do we, as a nation, have that he won’t post to twitter that some important foreign dignitary is a “dummy” or a “total loser” like he has with his political opposition and detractors thus far?
Furthermore, as president he cannot boast “well I have billions of dollars, so you have to listen to me” because he would not be representing himself, but rather our country, which is trillions of dollars in debt. He may have billions, but we’re missing trillions.
Additionally, Trump continuously praises his good business sense and potentially exaggerated billion dollar net-worth, but several of the businesses under his umbrella have gone bankrupt over the years — e.g. Trump’s Taj Mahal in Atlantic City in 1991, Trump Hotels and Casinos Resorts in 2004 and Trump Entertainment Resorts in 2009. If Trump and his board of directors can’t keep their businesses afloat, how can we ever hope that he and his future cabinet would be able to keep our country afloat?
Moreover, when the facts are laid out, Trump’s father laid the foundation for him to build his fortune, amassing the wealth needed for Trump to start off in life. This means that he isn’t necessarily a self-made man. Most people would do relatively well if their fathers helped kick start them with enough money to fill a trust fund.
When it comes down to it, it is becoming extremely difficult to consider Trump a serious, legitimate candidate for president. On the other hand, he is winning in the poles right now. The more I look at his stance on the key issues and the more I listen to the things he says, the more disappointed I become.
I am disappointed that a man his age thinks this kind of petty behavior is acceptable. I am disappointed that someone who is theoretically a serious candidate for president of the United States of America can act so disrespectfully and so tactless and still be considered a frontrunner in this race. I am disappointed that a man who bad-mouths the moderator at a presidential debate among other women thinks he is the best person to be the face of our country. I am severely disappointed in the entity that is Donald Trump because to me, he seems to represent everything that is wrong with our country. And he’s winning.