“With regard to Trump, he’s saying some things that I just think are ridiculous and would disqualify any other candidate.” – Gary Johnson
It’s time once again to bring the wrath of Trump supporters upon myself. Time for petty insults and a lack of logical arguments and facts from fascist white nationalists. Of course, Trump does have some rational supporters, no matter how hard some of the less rational ones try to convince me otherwise, so hopefully, it’s also time for the facts to convince some of them to instead vote for one of the several better options. For the entire primary season, it seemed the Never Trump Movement was going strong, standing on principle and telling the Republican party that they wouldn’t vote for someone like Trump to ruin their country, regardless of party, yet since the Donald accepted the Republican nomination, it seems to be growing weaker as we get closer to the general election. This is mostly due to fear of Hillary. “At least she’s better than Trump,” they say (an argument that I came across, and addressed in the first episode of the Libertarian Christian Podcast, released this week)! However, whether you believe he’s better than Hillary or not, there are many reasons that principled voters should never vote for Donald Trump, no matter what party they align themselves with.
He Doesn’t Support Second Amendment Rights
I’ve discussed this topic before, but I had to put it on this list just for the fact that it runs so contrary to what Republicans claim to believe. On June 15, 2016, Donald Trump tweeted: “I will be meeting with the NRA, who has endorsed me, about not allowing people on the terrorist watch list, or the no fly list, to buy guns,” a statement that goes directly contrary to the constitution, particularly the fifth and second amendments which guarantee all US citizens the right to keep and bear arms, and state that rights cannot be denied without due process.
“So what?” you might be thinking. “I don’t want terrorists to be able to buy guns.” Terrorists, however, aren’t the ones who would mainly be affected by this law, but rather, US citizens arbitrarily put on a watchlist at the discretion of the government. I seem to recall a lot of outrage among Republicans over even the slightest measures suggested by President Obama to increase gun control. Why then is this same outrage not directed toward the fascist Oompa Loompa currently running?
His Foreign Policy Would Kill Thousands of American Troops
Despite his attempts to seem pro-military, Donald Trump is anything but. His foreign policy would end up with American troops being killed in mass. Whether due to the effects of nuclear war, or the increased numbers of civilians in the middle east looking for any way to fight against the government bombing their homes and killing their families, many American soldiers will surely die as a result of Trump’s extremely aggressive military strategies (and I use the word “strategies” loosely). Those who would say otherwise clearly don’t understand how nuclear war and terrorism work.
Perhaps the greater loss, however, would be for those men and woman who survive. Trump said during a GOP debate in 2015: “The other thing with the terrorists is you have to take out their families, when you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families. They care about their lives, don’t kid yourself. When they say they don’t care about their lives, you have to take out their families.” As flat out evil as it is to kill innocent people to blackmail their families, it would also negatively affect our troops. Post-war guilt already plagues many veterans, and PTSD won’t be going away anytime soon, so imagine how much worse it will be if our troops are forced by President Trump to kill women and children in the name of the War on Terror. For being part of a party claiming to support our troops, Trump supporters sure seem to be dead set on killing and emotionally destroying as many of them as possible.
He’s Against Free Speech
Trump’s supporters may love when Trump “says it like it is,” but like other dictators before him, Donald’s not a big fan of when others do the same. Trump said during a rally in February that: “One of the things I’m going to do if I win, and I hope we do and we’re certainly leading. I’m going to open up our libel laws so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money. We’re going to open up those libel laws. So when The New York Times writes a hit piece which is a total disgrace or when The Washington Post, which is there for other reasons, writes a hit piece, we can sue them and win money instead of having no chance of winning because they’re totally protected.”
This alone should be terrifying. After all, without free speech, all of our other freedoms are all but useless. And what would qualify as “purposely negative and horrible and false”? Trump clarified in an interview with the Washington Post: “If The Washington Post writes badly about me.” That’s where the line is drawn, ladies and gentleman. Write badly about Trump, and you could be facing a huge lawsuit, and if you think that stops with the Washington Post, think again. This would affect anyone who writes negatively about Trump, including people such as myself. This also doesn’t stop with free speech. If Trump can keep the people from speaking against him, he can get away with anything. If you vote for Trump, don’t ever try to tell me that you support the first amendment.
He’s a Criminal
Trump supporters are quick to justify their vote by pointing out that Hillary is a criminal so at least their not voting for a criminal, and while yes she is, so is Trump. He’s been accused of rape by his (now ex) wife, with his main defense being that in New York, a husband can’t rape his wife. Not only is that a false claim under New York law at the time, but even if that were a valid statement, it begs the question, “do we want a rapist in office?” Surely, if I brought up Bill Clinton and asked if you wanted to elect Hillary, the wife of a rapist, Republicans would all be quick to throw their fists in the air and scream their disapproval for Bill’s actions.
In addition, as a result of the disaster known as Trump University, Trump is currently involved in two lawsuits, due to fraud. Not to mention his alleged ties to organized crime. If Trump would charge college students thousands of dollars for a useless degree, rape his wife, and allegedly has ties to organized crime, what do you really think he would do in office, where he would have endless opportunities for corruption paid for by the American People? If this was Hillary, I find it hard to believe that Trump supporters would just completely ignore the situation. In fact, the continuing outrage over the email scandal proves that they wouldn’t.
He Would Set Your Party Back Decades
For the above reasons, and others, if Republicans elected Donald Trump, they would set their own party back far beyond anything they could ever recover from. The party would lose liberty voters, minority voters, women, all of which are demographics they’re already struggling to hold onto. His ignorant, racist, misogynistic, and anti-freedom rhetoric will drive anyone and everyone with self-respect and principle away from the Republican party indefinitely, and possibly forever. The Republican party would lie in ruins. If you really believe in the Republican party, then a vote for Trump is a vote against the future of your own party. Ask yourself if you would rather have a Republican president this election, or if you would rather allow your party to have a bright future?
Republican voters shouldn’t vote for Trump. If you have any principles, you shouldn’t vote for Trump. If you even want your own party to succeed in future elections, you shouldn’t vote for Trump. Despite the reasons I’ve given, I have no doubt that many Trump supporters will continue to plug their ears, close their eyes, and ignore the truth. If any Trump supporters bother to argue, their arguments will no doubt be to call me leftist scum and claim I’m only helping Hillary. This is the kind of thing I’ve come to expect from Trump supporters. Still, if I can convince even one person not to vote for Trump, it may not sway the election, but maybe that one person will convince someone else, and maybe that will continue. Maybe over time, we can convince enough people to sway the American people to the cause of Liberty.