Donald Trump is a very unusual presidential candidate. He makes no claim to be uncontroversial, he is never impartial, and he has strong opinions on anything and everything. However, this means everyone has strong opinions about him. In the CPS community, anyone you ask will have something to say about Trump. I, personally, do not agree with him in the slightest. My mom still has a Bernie sticker on the back of her car, on our fridge, and on her purse, and she frequently argues with everyone in sight about Donald Trump. My Grandma attends Democrat rallies even now, and I think it is safe to say that the vast majority of my family is very opposed to Donald Trump. But, because of this, I was interested to learn what some other people think of Donald Trump. The CPS community has opinions that vary from hatred to muted agreement, which I found fascinating. As I asked around, I found that people disagreed with him for three main reasons: they think he’s too extreme, they think he’s not firm enough in his beliefs, or they straight-up disagree with his opinions.
Many people in the CPS community believe that Donald Trump’s beliefs are too radical. One person began by saying, “putting America first might make us strong, but in reality it’s the acceptance of others that makes us a strong country.” Donald Trump rejects any person, country or idea that does not, in his eyes, benefit America, whether it be its economy, its old ways or its old, tired views. One of Trump’s most famous refrains, “build a wall”, illustrates this idea of isolating America, and, in his xenophobic view, “putting it first”. Above all else, I believe that equality and freedom make up the foundation of America, which is why I agree with the belief that Donald Trump is too radical and exclusive. If we want this country to prosper off of something other than hatred, we need a candidate who is inclusive. However, others disagree, remarking, “I would potentially support him if he were more solid and guided.”
Many people find Donald Trump untrustworthy because of the instability of his plans and beliefs. They say that, “he has misguided concepts about the behaviors of immigrants in this country and if he’s going to set out his ideas for the future he needs to be more specific in his plans.” In terms of misguided views, Trump reigns supreme, especially it comes to talking about immigrants. In a speech in June of 2015, Trump said, “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best… They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” These words really display Trump’s racist, awful views on Mexican immigrants. When I first heard these words, I recoiled at the hatred behind them and the grave misinterpretation of a whole population. What’s more, he has made no effort to detail specific plans to follow up on this deeply misguided hatred. After paging through his site, I have come to the conclusion that Donald Trump is running on pure steam; he’s hot-headed, but there’s no real substance to him. In my opinion, he’s not really sure of himself or his plans for the country.
One thing he does know is how to rile people up. His campaign is based on fear, which is an effective incentive. People support him because of the misguided notion that he can keep them safe from the dangers he speaks of so often, such as the “dangers” of immigrants. In addition, Trump preaches the idea that Muslims, “supposed ISIS supporters,” should be banned from the United States. Trump is unstable in his opinions and policies; most of the text on his site details the negative aspects of past leaders without actually getting down to the details of his own plans. ⅔ of the immigration page is taken up by past stats and a paragraph meant to tear down Hillary Clinton because her campaign does not support the same kind of xenophobia. I do not condone the pure hatred that Donald Trump’s campaign runs on. However, others are more worried about his instability. One person said, “I don’t support him because he’s just running on the fire and changes his opinions frequently.” Most people, myself included, find ourselves wary when candidates aren’t resolute in their beliefs.
Trump does change his opinions frequently, as illustrated in the debate just last week. He has asserted on occasions that he’s for the Iraq War, but more recently, he has changed his mind on the matter and is now very much against the issue. On abortion, he has insisted he is pro-choice until a few years later, when he insisted he was pro-life. For more of his contradictions, watch this video directly showing most of his main, most controversial ones: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-flip-flop_us_57ac3753e4b0db3be07d4192
If he cannot pick a side on these vital issues, it would be very unsettling to me if he were elected. Who knows what opinions he’ll change next? Trustworthiness is key in a presidential candidate, and Trump is one of the least trustworthy people I can think of, and that worries me.
People of the CPS community also disagree with Trump because of a straight-up difference of opinion. Many do not agree with the xenophobia, sexism, and racism that Trump’s campaign runs on. I fall into this category. It was fascinating to get a wider view of the CPS opinions of Trump, but for the time being, I think I’ll stick to my Bernie stickers.