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Culture Feature
Trump Has Irreparably Damaged America's Role as a Global Leader
What could possibly end decades of American global leadership? Trump's Personality.
11.02.2020
"The tougher and meaner they are, the better I get along with them. You'll explain that to me someday, ok? But maybe it's not a bad thing. The easy ones I maybe don't like as much or don't get along with as much." -Donald Trump
Alexandra Ivey
Donald Trump says his foreign policy is "America First," but in reality, it's "America Only."
He has spent the last four years sowing seeds of distrust amongst our Democratic allies while mending fences with strongman autocratic dictators. If America were to get into a major war today, it's hard to know what side we would be on and who would even be willing to help us.
<h3>Donald Trump abandoned our Kurdish allies in Syria.</h3><p>As commander in chief, Donald Trump <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-veterans-trump-abandoning-kurds-sets-dangerous-precedent-2019-11" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">abandoned Kurdish allies</a> in the Middle East, allowing Turkish forces to invade Syria. The Kurds had helped the US fight against the Islamic State since 2014 and are a part of the Syrian Democratic Forces, and they fought side by side with American forces for years. </p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-630"> </div>
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<!-- End Ezoic - under_second_paragraph - under_second_paragraph --><p></p><p>Trump's sudden withdrawal was met with ire from American leaders on both sides. Mitch McConnell <a href="https://www.republicanleader.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/mcconnell-statement-on_turkey-and-us-partners-in-syria" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">urged</a> the president to reconsider, warning that "major new conflict between Turkey and our partners in Syria would seriously risk damaging" the U.S.-Turkey relationship. "American interests are best served by American leadership, not by retreat or withdrawal," he said. Even South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/turkey-move-into-northern-syria-take-captured-isis-fighters-held-by-kurdish-forces-white-house-says/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">called</a> this retreat a "stain on America's honor."</p><h3>Donald Trump is destroying our relationships with European allies.</h3><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY0Mjg0NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MDIyMjQ3OX0.oKTDJBdThZvCN9uZSA3KhH81BKqWHqRvoguV-PKcGf4/img.jpg?width=980" id="430ea" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="90903882d1341a3ff6636245ce038c97" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Trump and Merkel face off surrouded by allies. Trump sits in apparent defiance as everyone else stands.">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks to U.S. President Donald J. Trump during the second day of the G7 meeting in Charlevoix, Canada on June 9, 2018.</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit..."> Jesco Denzel/Bundesregierung</small></p><p>Trump often describes the European Union, whose membership overlaps significantly with NATO's, as a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-eu-foe/trump-calls-eu-a-foe-on-trade-cbs-news-interview-idUSKBN1K50R6" target="_blank">competitor</a> rather than a close global partner—as it has been to every recent American president. He has <a href="https://www.militarytimes.com/news/2018/11/13/trump-torches-allies-threatens-nato-pullout-after-tense-wwi-memorial-trip-to-paris/" target="_blank">threatened</a> to pull out of NATO and at one point <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-britain-trump/trump-attacks-british-ambassador-takes-swipe-at-uk-pm-may-idUSKCN1U328L" target="_blank">said</a> the U.S. would "no longer deal" with the British ambassador. He also implemented a plan to pull 10,000 U.S. troops out of Germany <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53077829" target="_blank">without warning</a> NATO or German Chancellor Angela Merkel. These are all huge divergences from the past, when the US shared a close and mutually beneficial relationship with Europe.<br></p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-632"></div>
<!-- End Ezoic - undersecond12 - under_second_paragraph --></p><p>All Republican and Democratic presidents since World War II have expressed strong support for a united Europe and for NATO. However, Donald Trump has spent all of his time criticizing the alliance and accusing allies of not paying their fair share. Following Trump's threats, French President Emannuel Macron <a href="https://www.economist.com/europe/2019/11/07/emmanuel-macron-warns-europe-nato-is-becoming-brain-dead" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">warned</a> European countries that they can no longer rely on a Trump-led America to defend NATO allies. "What we are currently experiencing is the brain death of NATO," Macron said. Trump responded by <a href="https://www.insider.com/president-donald-trump-and-french-president-emmanuel-macron-relationship-timeline-2019-12" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">calling</a> the French allies' words "very, very nasty." </p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-633"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent1 - mid_content --></p><p>Trump has also promised to pull out of the World Health Organization during the largest global health crisis in the last 100 years. The WHO is definitely not the most efficient organization, and certainly needs reform. However, unilaterally pulling out leaves our allies in a tough position, and surrenders the organization mostly to the control of its next largest stakeholder, China. </p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-634"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent11 - mid_content --></p><p>Trump has also brought tension to the G-7 alliance. The G-7 alliance is a group of seven major developed Democratic countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. </p><p>The Trump administration has repeatedly called for Russia to be readmitted to the group, which has created conflict with the other countries. In 2018 Trump <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44427660" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">refused to sign</a> a joint agreement with the group that vowed to ensure "free, fair, and mutually beneficial trade" while fighting protectionism. Instead Trump doubled down on protectionist tariffs (taxes on imports from other countries) continually punishing our allies in <a href="https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2019/sep/12/trump-tariffs-targeting-allies-too-2019/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Canada and the EU</a>. </p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-635"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent2 - long_content --></p><p>German Chancellor Angela Merkel described Trump's behavior as a "depressing withdrawal," while French President Emmanuel Macron invited him "to be serious." The extent of the damage became clear in 2020 when it was Trump's turn to host the G7 summit and Angela Merkel <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52885178" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">declined</a> to attend, citing both the dangers of the coronavirus and Trump's decision to invite Vladimir Putin to the summit. </p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-636"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent22 - long_content --></p><p>Trump's invitation to Putin also drew the ire of the UK and Canada, whose leaders came out publicly against the move. The summit was rescheduled to 2021. </p><p>All of these actions have weakened the United States' relationship with our strongest democratic allies, while simultaneously, Trump has praised and appeased some of the world's most notorious despots and autocrats.</p><h3>Donald Trump is a Vladimir Putin fanboy</h3><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY0Mjg0My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1OTg5NTI3OX0.u9RtxVgZPVvWVZRKq0MkChqqD1bLHVeuALRX-ty6JUI/img.jpg?width=980" id="d69c9" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2c897574f31d168e6a780c3e2881c22c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Trump and Putin leaning in to have a private conversation">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and US President Donald Trump (R) in Hamburg, Germany, on 7 July 2017 </small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Russian Presidential Press and Information Office/Anadolu Agency</small></p><p><br></p><p>Trump has been a Putin fan for years. Before he entered the White House, Trump wrote a series of adoring letters to Russian President Vladimir Putin. In the letters, which were released to the public in a Senate intelligence committee <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/revealed-donald-trump-letters-to-vladimir-putin-miss-universe-russia-2020-8" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">report</a>, Trump told Putin that he was a "big fan" and asked him to be a guest of honor at a Miss Universe Pageant in Moscow. </p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-637"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent3 - longer_content --></p><p>Around the same time, Trump <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2nAk5mhnIE" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">told</a> Larry King that Putin had done "a really great job outsmarting our country" and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR_SoJpWzOA&feature=youtu.be&t=14m44s" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">told</a> David Letterman that he himself had done "a lot of business with the Russians" and that Putin was "a tough guy." He later <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ff6f1043180d490bb1f3c3d07fa26d45" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">denied ever having met Putin. </a></p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-638"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent33 - longer_content --></p><p>When Joe Scarborough <a href="https://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/trump--putin-is-a-leader--unlike-our-president-588186691983" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">mentioned</a> that Putin's Russia had been accused of killing journalists, Trump responded "He's running his country and at least he's a leader, unlike what we have in this country." Trump added, "I think our country does plenty of killing also, Joe, so you know. There's a lot of stupidity going on in the world right now, a lot of killing going on, a lot of stupidity." Not a particularly patriotic statement. For context, at least <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lVf3-A5hy1O9xEuRbpLDENbfUTsWI3WSYgT6dd8S-k0/edit?usp=sharing" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">34 journalists</a> have been murdered in Russia since 2000, while during the same time period <a href="https://www.politifact.com/article/2016/jan/04/does-vladimir-putin-kill-journalists/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">3 journalists</a> have been murdered in the United States. </p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-639"> </div>
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</script></p><p>Trump's love for Putin has translated to wildly inconsistent policies. When Trump pulled us out of <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/why-trump-decision-abandon-kurds-syria-disaster-898493/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Syria</a>, he left Russia with control of the area. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/30/politics/ukraine-military-aid-congress/index.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Trump personally froze </a>$391 million in US military and security assistance for Ukraine in their fight against Russia, Trump directed the Central Intelligence Agency to <a href="https://www.justsecurity.org/71279/trump-pushed-cia-to-give-intelligence-to-kremlin-while-taking-no-action-against-russia-arming-taliban/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">share more</a> counterterrorism intelligence with Russia, and Trump pulled troops out of Germany a move which nearly<a href="https://republicans-armedservices.house.gov/sites/republicans.armedservices.house.gov/files/US%20Troops%20Withrdrawal%20from%20Germany.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> two dozen</a> Republican lawmakers said would "strengthen the position of Russia to our detriment." </p><p>Fellow Republican Charlie Dent who served in Congress for 13 years criticized the president, <a href="https://lite.cnn.com/en/article/h_d314e529f089098d3ca97c142356068f" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">saying</a>, "Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined a Republican President praising autocrats and advancing Russian President Vladimir Putin's foreign policy interests in Europe and the Middle East." Yet Trump has done exactly that.</p><h3>Donald Trump loves dictators.</h3><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY0Mjg0MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNDc4NTQzOX0.IWTrAKLbV9IK_1dJFZA91CEH5diuWjm-czP6mzcPfzI/img.jpg?width=980" id="f6964" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="67e4cdb433787348119b8ab0d2ef9b79" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Trump and Kim Jong Un smiling together and shaking hands">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Trump and Kim Jong Un in 2018</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">
AP
</small>
</p><p>President Trump has spoken glowingly of many of democracy's greatest enemies. He said he fell in love with Kim Jong Un, who rules North Korea with extreme brutality. At a rally in 2018 Trump <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-usa-trump/we-fell-in-love-trump-swoons-over-letters-from-north-koreas-kim-idUSKCN1MA03Q" target="_blank">said</a>, "And then we fell in love, OK? No, really, he wrote me beautiful letters, and they're great letters. We fell in love." North Korea is among the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/Pages/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=14255&LangID=E" target="_blank">worst</a> human rights violators in the world.<br></p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-640"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent44 - longest_content --></p><p>Trump has also formed a friendship with Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, an authoritarian leader whose country has the <a href="https://cpj.org/imprisoned/2016.php" target="_blank">most jailed journalists of any country in the world</a>. Turkey is technically our ally despite their undemocratic government since they're a member of NATO, but Trump seems to like Erdogan on a more personal level, hailing him as a "great leader" and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-turkey/trump-praises-turkeys-erdogan-as-a-friend-idUSKCN1BW2SJ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">saying</a> Erdogan "has become a friend of mine." </p><p>He also considers Xi Jinping, the communist dictator of China, to be a friend. President Xi is known for <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/10/world/asia/china-xi-jinping-term-limit-explainer.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ending term limits</a> so he could rule for life, for detaining and torturing <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-28/chinese-president-xi-jinping-uyghur-xinjiang-correct-happiness/12708930" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Uighur Muslims</a>, and forcibly <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3028152/journalists-chinese-state-media-be-tested-loyalty-president-xi" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">suppressing</a> any dissent. Trump <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-korean-business-leaders/?utm_source=link" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">says</a> of Xi, "And I like President Xi a lot. I consider him a friend, and—but I like him a lot. I've gotten to know him very well. He's a strong gentleman, right? Anybody that—he's a strong guy, tough guy." </p><p>Trump has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-called-egyptian-president-sisi-my-favorite-dictator-g7-2019-9" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">referred</a> to Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi as "my favorite dictator," and said that "He's a very tough man, I will tell you that. But he's also a good man, and he's done a fantastic job in Egypt. Not easy." al-Sisi became ruler of Egypt after he orchestrated the military's July 2013 removal of Mohamed Morsy, Egypt's first freely elected president. This military coup included the <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/world/article/Police-killed-900-during-Egypt-uprising-4353378.php" target="_blank">killing of at least 900</a> protesters.</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-641"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - bottomofpage - bottom_of_page --></p><p>The trend here is that Trump seems to view "strong" and "tough" as the highest compliments, and refuses to confront dictators about their significant human rights violations.</p><h3>Donald Trump has the lowest confidence rating amongst our allies.</h3><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY0Mjc3Ni9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NjM1NTEzNH0.BErxIcRJvyS_Q_znZTeRTUr5rzEtYcp4fukDWzCmyds/img.png?width=980" id="97feb" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2befcb91f467a3af4effdad81656603e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Survey of 13 countries confidence in global leaders. Highest confidence in Merkel, Macron, and Johnson lowest confidence in Putin, Xi and Trump in last place.">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Survey of American allies confidence in world leaders</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Pew Research</small></p><p><br></p><p>A new 25-nation Pew Research Center <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2018/10/01/trumps-international-ratings-remain-low-especially-among-key-allies/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">survey</a> shows that our allies in Europe have a particularly low opinion of Donald Trump. When asked if they had confidence that the US president would do the right thing regarding world affairs, only 28% of the UK, 10% of Germany, and 9% of France expressed confidence.</p><p>An even more recent 13-nation Pew Research Center <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2020/09/15/us-image-plummets-internationally-as-most-say-country-has-handled-coronavirus-badly/" target="_blank">survey</a> asked candidates to compare 6 world leaders, Emmanuel Macron of France, Angela Merkel of Germany, Boris Johnson of the UK, Xi Jinping of China, Donald Trump of the United States, and Vladimir Putin of Russia. The survey examined attitudes towards the leaders, and overall Donald Trump received the most negative ratings among the five. Lower than the two dictators. A median of 83% across the 13 allied nations polled<em> lack</em> confidence in our American leader.</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-645"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent_4 645 - longest_content --></p><p>Trump himself is aware of the stark contrast between his relationships with our allies vs his relationship with our enemies. In a recording by Bob Woodward, he <a href="https://www.axios.com/trump-woodward-foreign-leaders-934d6cfe-d93e-438c-9f1b-01bc258864ff.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">says,</a> "It's funny, the relationships I have, the tougher and meaner they are, the better I get along with them. You'll explain that to me someday, ok? But maybe it's not a bad thing. The easy ones I maybe don't like as much or don't get along with as much." </p><p>But it's easy to explain: he gets along better with the strongman autocrats who hate the press and love looking tough, because he sees himself and everything he wants to be in them. </p><p>Trump's personality is irreparably bad for our national security. In August 2020, 130 Republican senior national security officials <a href="https://www.defendingdemocracytogether.org/national-security/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">released a statement</a> proclaiming that they believe Donald Trump has damaged the United States' standing in the world and has compromised our nation's safety. They stood together to publicly state that "The President has demonstrated that he is dangerously unfit to serve another term."</p><p><strong>Read their entire letter here:</strong></p><h3></h3><p><a href="https://www.defendingdemocracytogether.org/national-security/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>https://www.defendingdemocracytogether.org/nationa...</strong></a></p>
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Culture Feature
Donald Trump is Not a "Small Government" President
Donald Trump is not a real Republican, he is a big government, big-spending Nationalist.
10.31.2020
Donald Trump—a big government nationalist.
Alexandra Ivey
The Republican Party has always been the party associated with smaller government and more freedom.
True Republicans think that the majority of governing should happen at the local level and big government has no place in America. Unfortunately, Trump doesn't seem to feel the same. Donald Trump is a big spending nationalist.
<h3>Donald Trump has issued more executive orders in his first term than Obama.</h3><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY0MTgyNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NTY0NjI3Nn0.HBRflWGBnKmnF22vc5QcTG1FGiHqN8X9wPja_tMFo98/img.jpg?width=980" id="dbce0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0a6240b3b52eb024d34f3d0ba4564b20" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">President Donald Trump holds up an executive order</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Leah Millis/Reuters</small></p><p>Donald Trump <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/ct-nw-trump-obama-executive-orders-20191019-fkj23rhqgncdfd7dkmztimofky-story.html" target="_blank">scoffed at</a> presidential executive orders as "power grabs" and a "basic disaster" during Obama's presidency. But, he's clearly changed his mind: In each year of his presidency, he has issued more executive orders than did former President Barack Obama during the same time span.<br></p><p>Trump has signed <a href="https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/statistics/data/executive-orders" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">184 executive orders</a> in his first term, an average of 50 per year. That's more than Obama, who issued 147 in his first term, and more than George W. Bush, who issued 173. Executive orders are a way to get around congressional checks and balances, and Trump uses them liberally. </p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-630"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - underfirst11 - under_first_paragraph --></p><h3>Donald Trump has tried to grab power from Governors.</h3><p>Republicans have alway understood that local governments are the ones that know the desires of the people the best, and so they should have power to make the decisions that actually affect our daily lives. In fact in 2016, the GOP <a href="https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/2016-republican-party-platform" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">platform</a> condemned the Obama administration's "bullying of state and local governments." </p><p>In contrast to his Republican allies, Donald Trump has no respect for local government. When governors tried to make their own decisions regarding the coronavirus and the handling of protesters, Trump<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-vice-president-pence-members-coronavirus-task-force-press-briefing-25/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> told the press</a>, "When somebody is the president of the United States, the authority is total and that's the way it's got to be. … It's total. The governors know that." </p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-632"></div>
<!-- End Ezoic - undersecond12 - under_second_paragraph --></p><p>The local leaders, Trump said, "can't do anything without the approval of the president of the United States." This is both blatantly untrue and a huge blow to our federalist system that divides power between the states and the national government. The national government should stay out of our local politics. The president telling governors and state legislators how to govern is big government at its worst. </p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-633"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent1 - mid_content --></p><h3>Donald Trump threatens the basics of democracy.</h3><p>A peaceful transfer of power is an essential part of American Democracy—but not for Trump. "Well, we're going to have to see what happens," Trump said when asked if he would commit to a peaceful transition if he lost the election. "Get rid of the ballots and you'll have a very peaceful – there won't be a transfer, frankly, there'll be a continuation." </p><p><script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>
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</script></p><p>But the truth is we can't get rid of the ballots. As much as half of the country is likely voting by mail this election due to the coronavirus. To invalidate those ballots just because they might cause Trump to lose is a threat to democracy itself. Trump's threat is a threat against America. No U.S. president has said anything like this before. Ever. Real republicans know that. Even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell knows it, <a href="https://twitter.com/senatemajldr/status/1309126971058794499" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">writing </a>on Twitter in response to Trump's comments, The winner of the November 3rd election will be inaugurated on January 20. There will be an orderly transition just as there has been every four years since 1792." </p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-634"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent11 - mid_content --></p><p>Trump has previously refused to say whether he would accept the election results, echoing his <a href="https://www.pbs.org/weta/washingtonweek/episode/trump-wont-accept-election-results-if-he-loses-clinton-expands-campaign-red-states" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">sentiments from 2016</a>. And he has talked about staying in office well past the constitutionally bound <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-negotiate-third-term-in-office-2020-9" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">two terms</a>. Make no mistake— this is how democracy dies, with casual statements from a man who cares more about his ego than his country.</p><h3>Donald Trump has driven up the national debt.</h3><p>Conservatives should fight against all threats to freedom and government intrusion upon liberty — and fiscal imprudence. Donald Trump is the <a href="https://www.politico.com/video/2016/06/donald-trump-im-the-king-of-debt-059208" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">self-proclaimed</a> "king of debt," but even he claimed he didn't want more debt for the country. </p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-636"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent22 - long_content --></p><p>During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump <a href="https://www.thebalance.com/donald-trump-economic-plan-3994106" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">promised</a> he would eliminate the nation's debt in eight years. However, his <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/budget_fy21.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">budget</a> for the next four years estimates show that he would actually <a href="https://www.thebalance.com/trump-plans-to-reduce-national-debt-4114401" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">add</a> at least $8.3 trillion, increasing the U.S. debt to $28.5 trillion by 2025. </p><p>However, the national debt may reach that figure much sooner due to the extra spending on the late coronavirus relief. When President Trump took office in January 2017, the national debt stood at $19.9 trillion. In October 2020, the national debt reached a record high of $27 trillion. That's an increase of <a href="https://www.thebalance.com/trump-plans-to-reduce-national-debt-4114401" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">almost 36%</a> in less than four years. That is not fiscal responsibility. </p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-637"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent3 - longer_content --></p><p>New data from the <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/56517" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Congressional Budget Office</a> shows that national debt is expected to exceed the size of the U.S. economy for the first time since World War II because of the massive federal spending programs enacted to prop up the economy during the coronavirus crisis. Of course Trump can't be blamed for the coronavirus, but he can be blamed for our response compared to other countries. </p><p>The US <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53780196" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">has</a> more deaths than any country in the world, and we are in the top 10 for number of deaths per capita. The US continues to regularly report more than 1,000 new coronavirus deaths a day, which is one of the <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus-data-explorer?hideControls=true&tab=map&zoomToSelection=true&country=USA~OWID_WRL&region=World&deathsMetric=true&interval=daily&perCapita=true&smoothing=0&pickerMetric=location&pickerSort=asc" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">highest daily death rates</a> per capita in the world. As a country with the leading medical experts, our handling of this crisis is embarrassing at best, catastrophic at worse. The Trump administration's mishandling of the virus will ultimately cost us billions, and the cost in American lives is incalculable. </p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-638"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent33 - longer_content --></p><h3>Donald Trump has throttled free trade.</h3><p><br></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY0MTkzNS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMTQ5Mzk3Nn0.Jepzd1p4UD-4ZHwqqxKE5UuLDTRO4VJLcmB1lGUo1dQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="da31a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b6af968228e717a23ec4a299e8c97c49" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Trump has placed huge restrictions on free trade, to the detriment of our allies and the American consumer.</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Evan Vucci/AP Photo; Steffi Loos/Getty; Lintao Zhang/Getty; Jochen Zick/Getty; Shayanne Gal/Business Insider</small></p><p><br></p><p>The free market of capitalism relies on free and fair trade with other countries. But President Trump only cares about punishing his enemies. Unfortunately, Trump's enemies also include America's allies. Trump has placed huge tariffs on not only Chinese imports, but also imports from our allies in Canada and the European Union. President Trump drastically increased tariffs on <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/01/22/trump-imposes-tariffs-on-solar-panels-and-washing-machines-in-first-major-trade-action/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">solar panels, washing machines</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/27/business/economy/trump-steel-tariffs.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">steel</a>, and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2018/03/01/white-house-planning-major-announcement-thursday-on-steel-and-aluminum-imports/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">aluminum</a>, as well as on a broad <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/17/us/politics/trump-china-tariffs-trade.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">range of products from China</a>. </p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-639"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent4 - longest_content --></p><p><!-- Ezoic - under_second_paragraph - under_second_paragraph -->
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<!-- End Ezoic - under_second_paragraph - under_second_paragraph --><p></p><p>The Trump administration has repeatedly asked us to believe that foreign companies are paying for tariffs. But <a href="https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/jep.33.4.187" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">multiple</a> <a href="https://blogs.imf.org/2019/05/23/the-impact-of-us-china-trade-tensions/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">studies</a> suggest this is not the case: The cost of tariffs have been paid for almost entirely by American households and American business, not foreign exporters. While estimates vary, economic analyses suggest the average American household has paid somewhere from <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/business/economy/trade-war-costs.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">several hundred</a> up to a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/08/20/trumps-trade-war-comes-consumers-tariffs-will-cost-us-families-year-jp-morgan-forecasts/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">thousand dollars or more</a> per year thanks to higher consumer prices attributable to the tariffs. According to estimates from <a href="https://taxfoundation.org/tariffs-trump-trade-war/" target="_blank">Tax Foundation</a>, the Trump administration has so far imposed $80 billion worth of new taxes on Americans by levying tariffs on thousands of products, which is equivalent to one of the largest tax increases in decades. That's not free trade, and that's not small government. That is the government interfering in our daily life and in our economy.</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-640"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent44 - longest_content --></p><h3>Donald Trump increased socialist agriculture subsidies.</h3><p>Trump's protectionist tariffs have also resulted in massive agriculture subsidies. Farm sales to China <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/mayrarodriguezvalladares/2019/08/12/trumps-trade-wars-are-hurting-midwest-farmers-banks-and-state-coffers/#5dfefaa35140" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">plummeted</a> from $19.5 billion in 2017 to just $9 billion the next year after Trump's tariffs were enacted. As farmers continued to hemorrhage profits in 2019, farm bankruptcies jumped nearly 20%.</p><p>In response Trump has had to bail out agriculture because of a problem he created. Direct farm <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/14/donald-trump-coronavirus-farmer-bailouts-359932" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">aid has climbed each year of Trump's presidency</a>, from $11.5 billion in 2017 to more than $32 billion in 2020—all funded by the taxpayers. These subsidies are unsustainable and irresponsible.</p><h3>Donald Trump has tried to restrict freedom of speech and press.</h3><p>Free speech and press are essential American rights. They are the foundation of patriotism. As a truly free country, the press has always had the ability to criticize the government, and <a href="https://www.history.com/news/presidents-relationship-with-press" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">they have</a>, not just in this current administration but in every administration. </p><p>True patriots live by the words, "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." But Trump doesn't seem to care. Trump has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/18/trump-greg-gianforte-assault-guardian-ben-jacobs" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">praised</a> a congressman who body slammed a reporter. He has t<a href="https://www.aclu.org/blog/free-speech/freedom-press/trump-once-again-threatens-change-federal-libel-laws-dont-exist" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">hreatened to change libel laws</a> to make it easier to sue publishers and news organizations following the release of an unflattering book. He threatened<a href="http://variety.com/2018/politics/news/trump-michael-wolff-book-cease-and-desist-steve-bannon-1202653092/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> legal action</a> against a journalist and publisher over a book that includes critical statements about him.</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-641"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - bottomofpage - bottom_of_page --></p><p>Trump has <a href="https://youtu.be/GezcwAwE89I?t=31" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">said</a> that "it's frankly disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write, and people should look into it" (all the while publicly posting <a href="https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/list/?speaker=donald-trump&ruling=false" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">verifiably false</a> information on a regular basis). He has t<a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/918267396493922304" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">hreatened</a> to <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/918112884630093825" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">cancel</a> the broadcast licenses of media companies that offer negative coverage of him. He threatened to <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/994179864436596736" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">pull credentials of reporters</a> who write "negative" stories about him, tweeting, "91% of the Network News about me is negative (Fake)....Take away credentials?" He even unsuccessfully <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/16/business/media/cnn-acosta-trump.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">tried to rescind</a> the press credentials of CNN journalist Jim Acosta after a heated exchange at a press conference, an action overturned by a federal judge. </p><p>These are not the actions of a man who believes in the freedom of the press, and the idea that free speech, no matter how negative, is essential to democracy. In the words of Theodore Roosevelt, "To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-645"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent_4 645 - longest_content --></p><h3>Donald Trump is unilaterally spending billions on his wall</h3><p>President Trump's border has cost taxpayers $11 billion — or nearly $20 million a mile — to become the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/01/19/797319968/-11-billion-and-counting-trumps-border-wall-would-be-the-world-s-most-costly" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">most expensive wall of its kind</a> anywhere in the world. Contrary to Trump's <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc7h6WOOh7M" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">promises</a>, Mexico didn't pay; American taxpayers are paying. Even worse, only <a href="https://apnews.com/article/eebff5c39b2e211592ed39da77d39d43" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">$3 billion</a> was obtained with congressional approval. </p><p>Trump obtained that money largely by going around congress and taking money from emergency funds and siphoning money from our <a href="https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2020/01/16/heres-how-much-border-wall-has-been-built-with-the-militarys-money/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">military budget</a>. This unilateral decision to use federal funds is still being <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/19/supreme-court-trump-border-wall-430137" target="_blank">argued in court</a>, as many believe it's an illegal and frankly authoritarian use of executive power. And the costs just keep growing. A ProPublica/Texas Tribune <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/10/27/border-wall-texas-cost-rising-trump/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">review of federal spending data</a> shows more than 200 contract modifications, at times increased or changed within just weeks of the original contracts, have ballooned the cost of the border wall project by at least $2.9 billion since late 2017. </p><p>Final estimates for the total cost of the wall vary from <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-immigration-wall-exclusive/exclusive-trump-border-wall-to-cost-21-6-billion-take-3-5-years-to-build-internal-report-idUSKBN15O2ZN" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">$21.6 billion</a> to <a href="https://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/329359-senate-dems-trumps-border-wall-could-cost-nearly-70-billion" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">$66.9 billion</a>. That is a massively expensive structure. Furthermore, if this wall is ever finished, it will likely do little to actually reduce illegal immigration. This is because for the past 10 years, the <a href="https://cmsny.org/publications/essay-2017-undocumented-and-overstays/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">primary mode of entry</a> to the undocumented population has been to overstay temporary visas. That means the majority of illegal immigrants (62%) arrived here legally, and a border wall will do nothing to prevent them.</p><h3>Donald Trump is trying to take private land from citizens</h3><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY0MTk5Ni9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1OTI1MDMxOH0.eaZlYXKhzV4ligrNtlfvAK50DVI2eX-uhxNsPrBKWn0/img.jpg?width=980" id="e8f02" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d679f2fd76c01656d1af8586aac67106" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Woman a standing in front of sign that says "We're part of America, we need representation & protection, not a fence."">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Pamela Taylor, 88, lives on the U.S.-Mexico border, where she and her children have put up a sign to say they don't want a fence for protection.</small>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">
Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times/TNS
</small>
</p><p>So far, Trump's administration has completed 371 miles of wall (out of roughly 1,150 miles) according to <a href="https://www.cbp.gov/border-security/along-us-borders/border-wall-system" target="_blank">CBP</a>. Very little of that has added new fencing where there was none, though. Most of the work has been replacing shorter vehicle barriers and fences with more ostentatious 30-foot walls largely on land already owned by the federal government in Arizona and California. Much less work has been done in Texas, because most of that land is privately owned.<br></p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-646"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent_9 646 - incontent_9 --></p><p>Trump's wall in Texas is tied up in court because using eminent domain laws to take land from private citizens is very unpopular. Texans like Eloisa Cavazo say they would never take a buyout from the government. "You could give me a trillion dollars and I wouldn't take it," she <a href="https://www.apnews.com/0b3d63c524214bbdbfb58ce8f61589f0" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">told the Associated Press</a>. Some of the landowners sued have kept the properties in their families <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/29/us/politics/border-wall-coronavirus.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">for generations</a>, but Trump doesn't care about little things like property rights; in fact, he has always <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2015/08/19/donald-trumps-abuse-of-eminent-domain/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">praised</a> the "eminent domain." To build a border wall in Texas will require massive government intrusion into private property.</p><p>Trump's wall is more of a symbol than a policy–and it's a symbol that he is using taxpayer money to fund, illegally siphoning funds from more important military projects, and violating American property rights.</p><p>In the <a href="https://www.ocregister.com/2020/01/11/donald-trump-isnt-a-conservative-hes-a-big-spending-nationalist/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">words</a> of Republican political consultant Mark Madrid, "The only way to reclaim conservative principles is to both call out Trump's actions, vote against him and demand we return to a philosophy of limited government and not big-spending nationalism." </p><p>Republicans need to stop pretending that Trump is conservative. I'm not the only one who is disturbed by the twisting of conservative ideals. Here are some groups of prominent Republicans who agree with me and are working to remove Trump from office:</p><p><strong>Republican voters against Trump <a href="https://rvat.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://rvat.org/</a></strong></p><p><strong>The Lincoln Project <a href="https://lincolnproject.us/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://lincolnproject.us/</a></strong></p><p><strong>The Bravery Project <a href="https://thebraveryproject.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://thebraveryproject.com/</a></strong></p><p><strong>Reclaim Our Party <a href="https://www.reclaimourparty.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.reclaimourparty.org/</a></strong></p><p><strong>Christians Against Trumpism <a href="https://christiansagainsttrumpism.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://christiansagainsttrumpism.com/</a></strong></p><p><strong>43 Alumni For Joe Biden <a href="https://43alumniforjoebiden.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://43alumniforjoebiden.com/</a></strong></p><p><strong>Republican Political Alliance for Integrity and Reform <a href="https://repair45.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://repair45.org/</a></strong></p><p><strong>Republicans for Rule of law <a href="https://www.ruleoflawrepublicans.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.ruleoflawrepublicans.com/</a></strong></p><h2></h2><p><strong>Former Republican National Security Officials for Biden </strong><a href="https://www.defendingdemocracytogether.org/national-security/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>https://www.defendingdemocracytogether.org/national-security/</strong></a></p>
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Culture Feature
Donald Trump Doesn't Care About Republicans' "Family Values"
The party of family values has chosen a candidate without family values.
10.30.2020
Donald Trump in 2003 with Victoria Silvstedt, 1997 playmate of the year, left, and his future wife, Melania Knauss, at a Playboy event.
Richard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive, via Getty Images
The Republican party has always been the party of strong family values.
Republicans have long championed the idea that families must be built with a strong moral compass at their heart. They must be built on strong marriages and good parenting. They must be built on trust. Donald Trump is an embarrassment to the party of traditional family values. Here's why.
<h3>Trump has been divorced–twice.</h3><p>Donald Trump has been through 3 marriages and 2 very public divorces. Divorce is very common in our current culture, but we generally hold our presidents to a higher standard. (It's worth noting that divorce is <a href="https://www.openbible.info/topics/divorce" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">technically</a> prohibited in the Bible). In fact, he is only our <a href="https://www.elitedaily.com/p/which-presidents-have-been-divorced-its-not-a-long-list-18232000" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">second</a> ever president to have been divorced. </p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-630"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - underfirst11 - under_first_paragraph --></p><h3>Trump publicly cheated on his first wife.</h3><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDYzNTk0MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1OTc1MjE5OH0.YxMLmDHrvnYbMc4bsYXBTV4ctsBfptS6V9g6Fhhv4ig/img.jpg?width=980" id="157f2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="08c5e2230cc03617be4cb990fa185785" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt='Donald Trump with mistress Marla Maples on left, on right picture of famous New York Post cover with Donald smiling and "BEST SEX I EVER HAD" as the title'>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">The infamous New York Post headline "Marla boasts to her pals about Donald: 'Best sex I've ever had'" released in 1990.</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">New York Post</small></p><p>Trump's marriage to his first wife, Ivana, fell apart when he began an affair with the model Marla Maples, which <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-ivana-divorce-tabloid-covers-2017-10" target="_blank">dominated</a> the <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/i-wrote-donald-trumps-infamous-best-sex-i-ever-had-story-guest-column-1101246" target="_blank">tabloids</a> in the early 1990s. His very public affair even affected his children. "The children are all wrecks," Ivana told <a href="https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/share/e515a2cd-a51b-4f83-8d61-6ebb9a104e0a" target="_blank">gossip columnist Liz Smith</a>. "Ivanka now comes home from school crying, 'Mommy, does it mean I'm not going to be Ivanka Trump anymore?' Little Eric asks me, 'Is it true you are going away and not coming back?'"<br></p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-632"></div>
<!-- End Ezoic - undersecond12 - under_second_paragraph --></p><p>Marital fidelity has always been a joke to Donald Trump. In a 1993 interview, Trump and Howard Stern engaged in a conversation about fidelity in marriage, with Stern relaying how Trump was shocked when he told him that he doesn't cheat on his wife. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2016/10/08/politics/trump-on-howard-stern/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Stern said</a>, "Donald asked me during the commercials — and I don't think you mind me saying it—he says to me, 'So you don't get it on with anybody? I said 'I'm really faithful to my wife' and he goes 'you're kidding? Really? What's that all about?'"</p><h3>Trump had a child out of wedlock.</h3><p>Even after his divorce was finalized in 1991, Trump chose not to make an "honest woman" out of his mistress Maples. A spokesperson, who <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/05/13/donald-trump-people-magazine-washington/84333614/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">many believe</a> was actually Trump himself, told a <a href="https://people.com/celebrity/inside-donald-trumps-apology-to-people-reporter-after-posing-as-spokesperson/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>People</em> reporter</a> that Trump would never marry Maples, and that he had "three other girlfriends" at the time. </p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-633"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent1 - mid_content --></p><p><script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>
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</script></p><p>So it's not particularly shocking that when Marla Maples announced to Trump that she was pregnant with Tiffany, his first words to her–as repeated by him on <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-tiffany-trump-ivanka-trump-tapes-howard-sterm-671826" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>The Howard Stern Show</em> in 2003</a>–were "What are we going to do about this?" Yet despite Trump's possible insinuation that she should abort the child, in 1993 Maples gave birth to Trump's fourth child, born out of wedlock. Shortly after her birth, Maples and Trump finally married, but the marriage was short-lived. </p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-634"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent11 - mid_content --></p><h3>Trump's current marriage is filled with scandal.</h3><p>The divorce with Maples wasn't finalized until 1999, so Trump was still technically married when he met his next wife, Melania Knauss. The pair met at a party in 1998 and Trump was on a date but, as he recalled later, he was immediately drawn to his future wife, if not immediately in love. "I went crazy. I was actually supposed to meet somebody else," Trump <a href="http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0512/25/lkl.08.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">recalled to Larry King on <em>CNN</em></a> in 2005 shortly after the pair were married. His marriage to Melania has been his longest, but it hasn't been without scandal. He has been accused of having multiple affairs throughout. The most credible allegations include an affair with Playboy model <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/donald-trump-a-playboy-model-and-a-system-for-concealing-infidelity-national-enquirer-karen-mcdougal" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Karen McDougal</a> in June 2006 and another with adult film star <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/porn-star-stormy-daniels-sues-trump-over-hush-agreement-2018-3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Stormy Daniels</a> in July 2006. Both of these affairs allegedly took place only months after the birth of his fifth child, Barron Trump. Trump has denied both allegations, but the latter scandal made headlines when in 2018, <em>The Wall Street Journal</em> revealed that Stormy Daniels received $130,000 for signing a non-disclosure agreement just before the 2016 presidential election about her alleged affair with Trump.</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-635"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent2 - long_content --></p><h3>Trump is an absent father.</h3><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDYzNjA0OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NjM2MjA0OX0.PUdNdVH0u35Fc3guB3uDnI4IHP8Ru78UwPQmLIhzTT4/img.jpg?width=980" id="b8fd1" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e98c378d20c94ee1c2859566b2019e55" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="The Trump family all sitting in separate gilded chairs looking solemn">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">The Trump family</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images</small></p><p>Trump has 5 kids from his three wives, but wasn't involved much in their upbringing. His first three children were raised mostly by nannies and bodyguards. Don Jr. refers to his nanny as "<a href="https://www.irishcentral.com/opinion/others/donald-trump-s-sons-pay-tribute-to-the-irish-nannies-who-raised-them" target="_blank">the woman who raised us</a>" and Eric Trump, the youngest of the three, claims that in a way he was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/21/arts/21iht-trump.3611735.html?pagewanted=all" target="_blank">really raised</a> by his brother Don Jr. His fourth child, Tiffany, <a href="https://eliteherald.com/news-and-politics/politics/things-about-tiffany-trump-that-the-donald-doesnt-want-you-to-know/18/" target="_blank">wasn't raised by Trump</a> at all, but thousands of miles away in Los Angeles with her mother Marla Maples. Trump has <a href="https://people.com/politics/fathers-day-donald-trump-quotes-raising-children/" target="_blank">openly expressed</a> that he has no interest in the child-rearing aspects of being a father. On the Howard Stern show in 2005, <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/andrewkaczynski/donald-trump-thinks-men-who-change-diapers-are-acting-like-t" target="_blank">he stated</a>, "I mean, I won't do anything to take care of them... It's not like I'm gonna be walking the kids down Central Park."<br></p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-637"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent3 - longer_content --></p><h3>Trump speaks very crudely about women.</h3><p>In September 2005, Trump was caught on <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-recorded-having-extremely-lewd-conversation-about-women-in-2005/2016/10/07/3b9ce776-8cb4-11e6-bf8a-3d26847eeed4_story.html?postshare=6361475870515092&tid=ss_tw" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">tape</a> telling "Access Hollywood" host Billy Bush that he was able to "grab" women "by the p---y" because "when you're a star they let you do it." On the tape Trump also talks about actively pursuing a married woman. "I moved on her like a bitch, but I couldn't get there. And she was married." The tape was recorded just a few months after Melania and Trump were married. While Trump claims that this was simply locker room banter and not proof that he was actively cheating on his new wife, it is certainly not the kind of rhetoric you want to hear from any newlywed father of four, let alone a President. </p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-638"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent33 - longer_content --></p><h3>Trump sexualized his own daughters.</h3><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDYzNjA3Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNDQxMTM5MH0.rbiqwHEgF7TTRIdKvftImaRCmxb7U7H9oHtACAapR94/img.jpg?width=980" id="597f4" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4a9ad12dfff83c1809f3722e28014665" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Ivanka Trump on Donald Trump's lap as he holds her by the waist">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Donald Trump and his daughter Ivanka in Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach, FL, in 1996.</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">
Brian Smith
</small>
</p><p><br></p><p>One of Trump's most <a href="https://youtu.be/diMp241gAcw" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">notorious quotes</a> about his beautiful and refined daughter Ivanka is that "if Ivanka weren't my daughter, perhaps I'd be dating her." Ivanka was 24 at the time and Trump was 60. But that isn't the only time he has sexualized his daughter. In another interview with Howard Stern in 2003, Trump said his daughter had "the best body." In yet another chat, Trump gave Stern <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2016/10/08/politics/trump-on-howard-stern/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">the okay</a> to call Ivanka a "piece of ass." He even sexualized his daughter Tiffany when she was an infant. "I think that she's got a lot of Marla, she's really a beautiful baby," <a href="https://twitter.com/Travon/status/755581145970946049?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E755581145970946049%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3%2Ccontainerclick_1&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bustle.com%2Fp%2Fvideo-of-trump-talking-about-tiffanys-legs-chest-when-she-was-a-baby-has-resurfaced-10239284" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Trump said</a>. "She's got Marla's legs. We don't know whether or not she's got this part yet but time will tell," he added, holding his hands in front of his chest to represent breasts. Because who doesn't want to talk about their infant daughter's future breasts?</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-639"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent4 - longest_content --></p><p>Donald Trump is not a family values candidate. His history shows that he has no respect for the institution of family—except when it serves him and his business. Trump doesn't care about the things that make the Republican Party great.<br></p><p>But don't take my word for it. Real Republicans, the ones who care about family values, agree with me:</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-640"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent44 - longest_content --></p><p><strong>Republican voters against Trump <a href="https://rvat.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://rvat.org/</a></strong></p><p><strong>The Lincoln Project <a href="https://lincolnproject.us/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://lincolnproject.us/</a></strong></p><p><strong>The Bravery Project <a href="https://thebraveryproject.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://thebraveryproject.com/</a></strong></p><p><strong>Reclaim Our Party <a href="https://www.reclaimourparty.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.reclaimourparty.org/</a></strong></p><p><strong>Christians Against Trumpism <a href="https://christiansagainsttrumpism.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://christiansagainsttrumpism.com/</a></strong></p><p><strong>43 Alumni For Joe Biden <a href="https://43alumniforjoebiden.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://43alumniforjoebiden.com/</a></strong></p><p><strong>Republican Political Alliance for Integrity and Reform <a href="https://repair45.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://repair45.org/</a></strong></p><p><strong>Republicans for Rule of law <a href="https://www.ruleoflawrepublicans.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.ruleoflawrepublicans.com/</a></strong></p><h3></h3><p><strong>Former Republican National Security Officials for Biden </strong><a href="https://www.defendingdemocracytogether.org/national-security/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>https://www.defendingdemocracytogether.org/national-security/</strong></a></p>
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Culture Feature
Mass Hysterectomies at Immigrant Detention Center? Here Are the Facts.
Whistleblower files official complaint on disturbing conditions at Georgia detention center.
09.16.2020
Dawn Wooten surrounded by the text of her complaint
Alexandra Ivey
A whistleblower who worked as a nurse at a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Georgia has come forward with a claim that immigrants are facing serious medical neglect in regards to the COVID-19 pandemic—as well as an unusually high rate of hysterectomies.
The whistleblower is Dawn Wooten LPN. She has worked at the facility for three years as a licensed practical nurse, and has over 10 years of experience working as a nurse in prisons. She originally worked full time at the Irwin County Detention Center (ICDC) in Ocilla, Georgia but was demoted to an on-call position in mid-July after repeatedly complaining to staff leadership about the dangerous working conditions. Irwin is a private prison which houses immigrants detained by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and is run by LaSalle Corrections, a private company that runs immigration detention facilities in Georgia, Texas, and Louisiana.
<p>The <a href="https://whistleblower.org/press-release/press-release-whistleblowing-nurse-from-detention-center-in-georgia-reports-unsafe-practices-that-promote-the-spread-of-covid-19-in-ice-detention/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Government Accountability Project</a> and <a href="https://projectsouth.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/OIG-ICDC-Complaint-1.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Project South</a> have filed complaints with the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General on Wooten's behalf. The complaints detail the alleged abuses she witnessed while working at the facility. The majority of Wooten's complaints have to do with a grave mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also speak to a pattern of medical neglect and raise concerns about hysterectomies performed on detainees.</p><p>The complaint states that the private facility has willfully disregarded the CDC's COVID-19 guidelines. Wooten claims that the facility has repeatedly refused to properly treat or test symptomatic detainees and has failed to enforce any sort of social distancing with detainees who have confirmed or suspected cases. The treatment of the staff is no exception. They allegedly have not been provided with personal protective equipment (PPE) and have been required to work even if they are symptomatic. </p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-632"></div>
<!-- End Ezoic - undersecond12 - under_second_paragraph --></p><p><!-- Ezoic - under_second_paragraph - under_second_paragraph -->
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<!-- End Ezoic - under_second_paragraph - under_second_paragraph --><p></p><p>Wooten claims that the number of cases at the facility has been underreported. According to ICE, 31 people detained at Irwin have tested positive for Covid-19. Wooten told <em>T</em><a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/09/14/ice-detention-center-nurse-whistleblower/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>he Intercept</em></a> that at least 50 detainees and 15 staff had tested positive as of July, when she was demoted, based on the number of people she personally knew who had tested positive. </p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-633"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent1 - mid_content --></p><p>Negligent medical care was apparently common even before the pandemic. According to Wooten, it was common practice for the sick call nurse to shred medical request forms from detained immigrants who were requesting to go to the medical unit. Sometimes the nurses even fabricated records such as vital signs without ever seeing the individual requesting medical help. Many of the detainees reported long wait times for medical requests due to these types of practices, and sometimes they weren't seen at all.</p><p><br></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDM5MDU2NC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MDkyMTI2OH0.04moFUjZhbUo6k0BAQ5YcNQzIbtpR98EDEIYXn0_Qn4/img.jpg?width=980" id="57ac3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ac8e8b8a724e683361334054d9f7df5c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt='Nurse Dawn Wooten standing with protesters who have signs that say things like "Abolish ICE"'>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Dawn Wooten LPC speaks out with the support of local protesters.</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Jenni Girtman</small></p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-634"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent11 - mid_content --></p><p><br></p><p>Wooten's accounts of these dangerous conditions and medical neglect have been supported by dozens of interviews with current detainees in the facility which were included in the Project South <a href="https://projectsouth.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/OIG-ICDC-Complaint-1.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">complaint</a>. They have also been corroborated by another member of the medical staff who chose to remain anonymous but interviewed with <a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/09/14/ice-detention-center-nurse-whistleblower/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>The Intercept</em></a>.</p><p>The most shocking portion of the complaint details the high rate of hysterectomies happening within the facility. A detained immigrant told Project South that she talked to five different women detained at Irwin between October and December 2019 who had hysterectomies done. When asked about the surgery, the women seemed confused and were unable to explain why the procedure was needed.</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-635"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent2 - long_content --></p><p>A hysterectomy is the removal of a woman's uterus. In some cases, such as uterine cancer, it is a necessary procedure. However, in most other cases, hysterectomies are done to improve a woman's life, not to save her life, as it can relieve pain, discomfort, or heavy bleeding, but there are often <a href="https://www.health.ny.gov/publications/1421.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">other</a> ways of treating or dealing with these problems. That being said, hysterectomies are very common. In fact, 1 in 3 women in the United States has one by age 60, according to the CDC.</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-636"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent22 - long_content --></p><p>Wooten expressed concern that while some women have heavy menstruation or other severe issues that would require hysterectomies, "everybody's uterus cannot be that bad." Wooten explained that a specific offsite doctor seems to be administering an abnormally high rate of hysterectomies, stating "Everybody he sees has a hysterectomy—just about everybody." </p><p>She also stated that other nurses have marveled at the problem amongst themselves, saying things like, "That's his specialty, he's the uterus collector." The complaint does not specify an estimate of the total number of hysterectomies, just that they are occurring at an unusually high rate. </p><p><script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>
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<!-- End Ezoic - incontent3 - longer_content --></p><p>The report is particularly concerning because it doesn't seem that the women receiving the major surgery know what they are getting or why. Wooten stated that the sick call nurse tries to communicate with the detained immigrants in Spanish by simply "googling Spanish" instead of using the <a href="https://www.languageline.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">LanguageLine</a> that healthcare professionals are supposed to use. </p><p>One female detainee claims she was told by three different people that three different things were going to happen. She was originally told by the off-site doctor that she had an ovarian cyst and was going to have a small twenty-minute procedure done, involving drilling three small holes in her stomach to drain the cyst. The officer who was transporting her to the hospital told her that she was receiving a hysterectomy. When the hospital refused to operate on her because her COVID-19 test came back positive for antibodies, she was transferred back to Irwin, where the nurse said that the procedure she was going to have done entailed dilating her vagina and scraping tissue off. She reported feeling frightened and angry, saying it "felt like they were trying to mess with my body." </p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-638"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent33 - longer_content --></p><p><br></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDM5MTU2NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NjQyMTQyN30.62JZHAKVbcTxtuN2M44ujoQwzpVpALfbqyrGtlLw6JU/img.jpg?width=980" id="15849" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8c4224d19b7cce94cda6b74b26c12c58" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Picture of Irwin County Detention Center from above">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Irwin County Detention Center</small></p><p><br></p><p>Another woman said she was not properly anesthetized during an ovarian cyst procedure and overheard the doctor say he had mistakenly removed the wrong ovary, she then had to have the correct ovary removed as well, rendering her unable to have kids. </p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-639"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent4 - longest_content --></p><p>"When I met all these women who had had surgeries, I thought this was like an experimental concentration camp. It was like they're experimenting with our bodies," one detainee said, according to the <a href="https://projectsouth.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/OIG-ICDC-Complaint-1.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">complaint</a>.</p><p>An ICE spokeswoman, Lindsay Williams, said on Tuesday that the agency does not comment on complaints made to the Office of the Inspector General but added that, "ICE takes all allegations seriously and defers to the OIG regarding any potential investigation and/or results. That said," the spokesperson added, "in general, anonymous, unproven allegations, made without any fact-checkable specifics, should be treated with the appropriate skepticism they deserve."</p><p>Dr. Ada Rivera, the medical director of the ICE Health Service Corps, <a href="https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/whistleblower-georgia-immigration-facility-is-covid-19-hotbed/XBQRQE45DNDLJAXCO2OD374VFQ/" target="_blank">strongly refuted</a> the allegations. He said that according to ICE data, only two individuals at the Irwin center in Georgia were referred for hysterectomies since 2018. "These recommendations were reviewed by the facility clinical authority and approved."</p><p>Nancy Pelosi also responded to the complaint, calling for a thorough investigation of the disturbing claims. She drew parallels to dark instances American history in which American doctors cruelly experimented on minorities in the name of medicine. "This profoundly disturbing situation recalls some of the darkest moments of our nation's history, from the exploitation of <a href="https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/henriettalacks/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Henrietta Lacks</a>, to the horror of the <a href="https://www.history.com/news/the-infamous-40-year-tuskegee-study" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tuskegee Syphilis Study</a>, to the forced sterilizations of Black women that <a href="https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/fannie-lou-hamer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Fannie Lou Hamer</a> and so many others underwent and fought." she said.</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-640"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent44 - longest_content --></p><h2></h2><p>If true, the allegations would not only be against US laws and CDC guidelines but also against international law. The United Nations defines "imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group" as an act of genocide and a crime under international law. </p>
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Culture Feature
7 Reasons You Shouldn't Vote for Kanye West for President
A vote for Kanye is a vote for the spoiler effect.
08.30.2020
When Kanye West announced he was running for president on July 4th 2020, most people thought it was just a joke or maybe a publicity stunt.
But he will now officially appear on the ballot in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri and is making an effort to appear on several other states' ballots. However, that doesn't mean you should consider him to be a viable candidate, and here's why:
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<h2></h2><p>So don't vote for Kanye, not even as a joke. Voting is an essential part of American democracy, and voting for a candidate who can't win and would make a bad president is not a very funny joke.</p><div class="horizontal-rule"></div><h4>For more well-researched, unbiased information on today's biggest issues, follow Alexandra's Instagram account <a href="https://www.instagram.com/the_factivists/" target="_blank">The Factivists</a>. </h4><div id="5892a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="989c917f25b57cf55ff9d8e4a02b3477"><blockquote class="instagram-media"
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He literally can't win
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU4Nzc2Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwNzk5OTkwMn0.TzhIycYupGqzN4z37xlpQp4X_6fMU1tRoNgnfFIAJkk/img.jpg?width=980" id="5afe0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1ebd0e5e41881df404a95fb86c905c2f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="kanye west" /><p>His campaign has missed the deadline or failed to get enough verifiable signatures in 17 states; that is 225 electors. If he doesn't get on the ballot in California, then he will lose a shot at another 55 electors. A California election official told <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/can-kanye-even-theoretically-win-missed-ballot-deadlines" target="_blank"><em>Fox News</em></a> that zero counties had reported signatures from West's campaign to the state. That brings him up to a grand total of 280 electors that he cannot get, making it impossible for him to get the 270 electoral college votes necessary to win the presidency. Even a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/2016-election/write-in-votes/" target="_blank">write-in</a> campaign is not feasible. There are eight states where ballots don't even have a space for write-ins. In 32 others, write-in candidates still have to file with the state prior to the election or write in votes won't be counted. </p>He is only running to steal votes from Biden
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU4Nzc1NS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwOTc4OTYwNn0.qzKHW-OgUdVUhBFTzgFN2y73_MhVWZ5vSH6X-2d2u9A/img.png?width=980" id="f41e0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ec10fe531431e06ff35263e0fb06deff" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="kanye west tweet" /><p>Kanye recently <a href="https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/1287090600248930305?lang=en" target="_blank">tweeted</a>, "I CAN BEAT BIDEN OFF OF WRITE INS #2020VISION." In an interview with <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/randalllane/2020/08/06/exclusive-kanye-west-indicates-that-his-spoiler-campaign-is-indeed-designed-to-hurt-biden/#24a2b6766397" target="_blank"><em>Forbes</em></a> (in which he was called out for serving only as a spoiler), Kanye replied, "I'm not going to argue with you. Jesus is King." While Kanye has said he is running to win, he is currently polling at only about <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/12/kanye-west-flops-among-black-voters-393860" target="_blank">2%</a>, which is about 7 points behind people who have no opinion. Kanye will certainly never get enough votes to win, but in swing states he could make a difference. In <a href="http://www.milwaukeeindependent.com/featured/black-leaders-denounce-gops-latest-political-ploy-back-kanye-west-spoiler-divert-milwaukee-votes/" target="_blank">Wisconsin</a> in 2016 for example, there were 36,460 write-in votes for president, which surpassed Trump's statewide margin of victory of 22,748.</p>Republican operatives are putting him on the ballot
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU4Nzc3NC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MTMyNjU4N30.BBSOtpEkSpI64mavD-4UUnsMong-2ecMKGUKLN72vnQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="b34a0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="fc90201b80b5297acd32d1d2f72b28a2" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Kanye West Joe Biden" />Forbes
<p>Republicans associated with Trump are also associated with Kanye's campaign in at least four states. West's ballot petition was delivered to Wisconsin state regulators by <a href="https://www.wpr.org/kanye-west-files-wisconsin-ballot-help-republican-attorney" target="_blank">Lane Ruhland</a>, a lawyer currently working on a lawsuit for the Trump campaign. A Republican operative in Colorado, <a href="https://www.coloradopolitics.com/2020-election/i-am-not-joking-gop-operative-helps-kanye-west-file-as-presidential-candidate-on-colorado/article_27ef65a0-d74c-11ea-9672-c7b53a6787ed.html" target="_blank">Rachel George</a>, is helping Kanye get on the ballot there, even though she thinks it's "hilarious." <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/republicans-least-four-states-are-helping-kanye-west-gain-ballot-n1235881" target="_blank">Gregg Keller</a>, who was previously shortlisted as a Trump campaign manager in 2016, has been listed as a contact for the Kanye campaign in Arkansas. <a href="https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a33524765/kanye-west-presidential-ballot-republican-operatives/" target="_blank">Chuck Wilton</a> in Vermont is listed as a convention delegate for Trump and as an elector for Kanye.</p>Kanye believes the cure to the coronavirus is prayer and not vaccines
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU4Nzc4Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MDQ4NDUyNn0.1_XWMXYYKz9G6RrlaZK4qQPFqrzb9BJzuzXzyAQHMmw/img.jpg?width=980" id="bfeee" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e1546bcb300dde91ae1d7ce898f03025" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Kanye West Sunday Service" /><p>In his interview with <em><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/randalllane/2020/07/08/kanye-west-says-hes-done-with-trump-opens-up-about-white-house-bid-damaging-biden-and-everything-in-between/#7c1ee9b347aa" target="_blank">Forbes</a>, </em>Kanye stated that the way to end coronavirus is to pray and that "we need to stop doing things that make God mad." And when asked about vaccines he said, "It's so many of our children that are being vaccinated and paralyzed. . . . So when they say the way we're going to fix Covid is with a vaccine, I'm extremely cautious. That's the mark of the beast. They want to put chips inside of us, they want to do all kinds of things, to make it where we can't cross the gates of heaven."</p>Kanye does not understand Black history
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU4NzgwMS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMzExMDU5N30.hOjvTwel5S6gowk4tb92sqG17f-iRZIazg6Jo6GOvNg/img.jpg?width=980" id="e8106" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8ebb7517610fc8cf16dd02767a0ee7e9" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Kanye West Harriet Tubman" /><p>Kanye has stated that slavery was a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/01/entertainment/kanye-west-slavery-choice-trnd/index.html" target="_blank">choice</a>: "When you hear about slavery for 400 years ... For 400 years? That sounds like a choice." Kanye recently said that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kanye-west-hosted-first-campaign-event-in-south-carolina-2020-7" target="_blank">Harriet Tubman</a> "never actually freed the slaves, she just had them work for other white people." He has also said that <a href="https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/kanye-west-says-black-history-month-is-torture-porn.html/" target="_blank">Black History month</a> is "torture porn," used the <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kanye-west-confederate-flag-shirt-explained-_n_4173200" target="_blank">Confederate flag</a> in his merchandise, and said that Black people need to stop talking about <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2016/11/18/entertainment/kanye-west-racism/index.html" target="_blank">racism</a>.</p>Kanye is mentally ill and untreated
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU4NzgxNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NzczNzU1Mn0.OIPjtgYP_0wuS6Rx2s9VUyVZnoX_5XIdOh60NL3eo1Y/img.jpg?width=980" id="ed13c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="cf3b145e7f9c3e742f92f7772c4b4cf4" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Kanye tweets" /><p>Kanye West was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the age of 39. Bipolar disorder affects 2.3 million Americans, and Kanye's openness about his struggles with mental health have actually done a lot to destigmatize mental disorders. However, untreated bipolar disorder would definitely be a problem for a president. Kanye himself described the importance of <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/28/entertainment/kanye-west-bipolar-letterman-interview/index.html" target="_blank">medication</a>: "If you don't take medication every day to keep you at a certain state, you have a potential to ramp up and it can take you to a point where you can even end up in the hospital. And you start acting erratic, as TMZ would put it." </p><p>Yet only 7 months after that interview, he tweeted, "I'm loving the new music I've been working on. 6 months off meds I can feel me again." His wife <a href="https://www.etonline.com/kim-kardashian-opens-up-about-kanye-wests-mental-health-and-why-medication-is-not-an-option-123114" target="_blank">Kim Kardashian</a> has stated, "For him, being on medication is not really an option." While mental health choices should always be personal choices, if you are president then your mental stability becomes the concern of every American citizen. </p>Kanye doesn’t know anything about politics
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU4NzgxOC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNzc4MTU4NX0.mRADBfhu9ML_nczgdUZmoiiAz3cwR8tXQP206hOUWkk/img.jpg?width=980" id="c5558" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="16954fd6c1349519e46e363e59510a1d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Kanye West Wakanda" /><p>Kanye has never voted. He admitted to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/randalllane/2020/07/08/kanye-west-says-hes-done-with-trump-opens-up-about-white-house-bid-damaging-biden-and-everything-in-between/#7c1ee9b347aa" target="_blank"><em>Forbes</em></a> that he had only registered to vote for the first time this year. He also admitted he knows nothing about politics and would like to model his White House after the fictional Wakanda, "I'm gonna use the framework of Wakanda right now because it's the best explanation of what our design group is going to feel like in the White House…That is a positive idea: You got Kanye West, one of the most powerful humans—I'm not saying <em>the</em> most because you got a lot of alien-level superpowers and it's only collectively that we can set it free. Let's get back to Wakanda . . . like in the movie in Wakanda when the king went to visit that lead scientist to have the shoes wrap around her shoes. Just the amount of innovation that can happen, the amount of innovation in medicine—like big pharma—we are going to work, innovate, together."</p>From Your Site Articles
- How Pop Culture Bullies Us, and How to Fight Back - Popdust ›
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- Kanye West Vs Spencer Pratt—Who Is The Biggest Prick? - Popdust ›
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