Is Donald Trump fit for a second term as president of the United States? You be the judge:
Trump’s Character:
Disrespects and abuses women:
- Jury finds Trump liable for sexual abuse, awards accuser $5M – https://apnews.com/article/trump-rape-carroll-trial-fe68259a4b98bb3947d42af9ec83d7db
- Breaking down the verdict as jury finds Trump liable for sexual assault and defamation – https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/breaking-down-the-verdict-as-jury-finds-trump-liable-for-sexual-assault-and-defamation
- Dozens of women have accused Trump of sexual misconduct dating back to the 1970s – https://19thnews.org/2023/10/donald-trump-associates-sexual-misconduct-allegations/
- Donald Trump sexual misconduct allegations – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump_sexual_misconduct_allegations
- Donald Trump Access Hollywood tape – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump_Access_Hollywood_tape
- listen to the Access Hollywood tape here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYqKx1GuZGg
Disrespects the men and women serving our country in our armed forces:
- Trump’s Contempt for Military Service, The GOP candidate’s shot at Nikki Haley’s husband is part of a pattern. – https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2024/02/trumps-contempt-for-military-service/677446/
- John Kelly confirms Trump privately disparaged U.S. service members and veterans – https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/john-kelly-confirms-trump-privately-disparaged-us-service-members-vete-rcna118543
- After pressure, Trump orders flags lowered to honor John McCain – https://www.militarytimes.com/veterans/2018/08/27/after-pressure-trump-orders-flags-lowered-to-honor-john-mccain/
Espouses racist and white supremacist views:
- Racial views of Donald Trump – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_views_of_Donald_Trump
- Donald Trump’s long history of racism, from the 1970s to 2020 – https://www.vox.com/2016/7/25/12270880/donald-trump-racist-racism-history
- Is Trump Really That Racist? – https://www.npr.org/2020/10/19/925385389/is-trump-really-that-racist
- How White Supremacy Returned to Mainstream Politics – https://www.americanprogress.org/article/white-supremacy-returned-mainstream-politics/
Demonstrates narcissistic behavior:
- Donald Trump: textbook narcissist – https://www.uu.nl/en/node/541/donald-trump-textbook-narcissist
- Paul Ryan was convinced Donald Trump had narcissistic personality disorder – https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/16/politics/paul-ryan-donald-trump-narcissistic-personality-disorder/index.html
- Narcissism, disagreeableness, grandiosity—a psychologist investigates how Trump’s extraordinary personality might shape his possible presidency. – https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/06/the-mind-of-donald-trump/480771/
Demonstrates questionable mental competence and acuity:
- even in an environment where obsequious loyalty was demanded by Trump, then Secretary of State Rex Tillerson referred to then President Trump as a “moron” – https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/tillerson-s-fury-trump-required-intervention-pence-n806451
- Trump suggested injecting bleach into people to treat COVID [see video about halfway down] – https://www.politico.com/news/2021/04/23/trump-bleach-one-year-484399
- Mental Acuity Questions Catch Up With Trump – https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2024-01-26/mental-acuity-questions-catch-up-with-trump
Acts obnoxiously and callously:
- List of nicknames used by Donald Trump – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nicknames_used_by_Donald_Trump
- Editorial: Trump’s dangerous ‘vermin’ speech would have been at home in Nazi Germany [this could go in other categories, too] – https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-11-13/trump-vermin-speech
- How Trump Taught Everybody to Be Obnoxious and Cruel – https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/09/02/one-more-trump-legacy-the-casual-savagery-of-american-politics-00054610
Has and continues to face many civil, criminal, and impeachment cases:
- [see “Jury finds Trump liable for sexual abuse…”, above]
- Judge rules Donald Trump defrauded banks and insurers while building real estate empire – https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-letitia-james-fraud-lawsuit-1569245a9284427117b8d3ba5da74249
- The Cases Against Trump: A Guide – https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/02/donald-trump-legal-cases-charges/675531/
- a much longer list – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_and_business_legal_affairs_of_Donald_Trump
- ArtII.S4.4.9 President Donald Trump and Impeachable Offenses – https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution-conan/article-2/section-4/president-donald-trump-and-impeachable-offenses
Persistently demonstrates dishonesty and lack of integrity:
- Trump’s false or misleading claims total 30,573 over 4 years – https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/24/trumps-false-or-misleading-claims-total-30573-over-four-years/
- “The Lies of Donald Trump: A Taxonomy” – https://pfiffner.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Pfiffner-The-Lies-of-Donald-Trump-A-Taxonomy.pdf
- Analysis: Donald Trump’s war on truth confronts another test with voters – https://apnews.com/article/trump-misinformation-jan6-coronavirus-twitter-2024-election-c9cbbb9363e907257d54a6c20e2aa29d
Encourages and incites violence:
- ‘Because President Trump said to’: Over a dozen Capitol rioters say they were following Trump’s guidance – https://abcnews.go.com/US/president-trump-dozen-capitol-rioters-trumps-guidance/story?id=75757601
- Jan. 6 report: Trump ‘lit that fire’ of Capitol insurrection – https://apnews.com/article/jan-6-committee-final-report-trump-bcfea6162fe9cfa0d120e86d069af0e4
- Federal appeals court rules Trump can be sued for inciting violence on Jan. 6 – https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/federal-appeals-court-rules-trump-can-be-sued-for-inciting-violence-on-jan-6
- Trump says he would encourage Russia to attack Nato allies who pay too little – https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/11/donald-trump-says-he-would-encourage-russia-to-attack-nato-countries-who-dont-pay-bills
Perpetuates unfounded conspiracy theories:
- Trump openly embraces, amplifies QAnon conspiracy theories – https://apnews.com/article/technology-donald-trump-conspiracy-theories-government-and-politics-db50c6f709b1706886a876ae6ac298e2
- List of conspiracy theories promoted by Donald Trump – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_conspiracy_theories_promoted_by_Donald_Trump
Trump’s Policy Actions and Intents During His First Term:
Irresponsible tax cuts that benefited mostly the wealthy and that increased the national debt:
- Secret IRS Files Reveal How Much the Ultrawealthy Gained by Shaping Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Tax Cut” – https://www.propublica.org/article/secret-irs-files-reveal-how-much-the-ultrawealthy-gained-by-shaping-trumps-big-beautiful-tax-cut
- The TCJA 2 Years Later: Corporations, Not Workers, Are the Big Winners – https://www.americanprogress.org/article/tcja-2-years-later-corporations-not-workers-big-winners/
- Six years later, more evidence shows the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act benefits U.S. business owners and executives, not average workers – https://equitablegrowth.org/six-years-later-more-evidence-shows-the-tax-cuts-and-jobs-act-benefits-u-s-business-owners-and-executives-not-average-workers/
- Tax Cuts Are Primarily Responsible for the Increasing Debt Ratio – https://www.americanprogress.org/article/tax-cuts-are-primarily-responsible-for-the-increasing-debt-ratio/
- How Much Did President Trump Add to the Debt? – https://www.crfb.org/blogs/how-much-did-president-trump-add-debt
- Trump added $8.4 trillion to the national debt: Analysis – https://thehill.com/business/4426965-trump-added-8-4-trillion-to-the-national-debt-analysis/
- Extending Trump Tax Cuts Would Add $3.5 Trillion to the Deficit, According to CBO – https://www.budget.senate.gov/chairman/newsroom/press/extending-trump-tax-cuts-would-add-35-trillion-to-the-deficit-according-to-cbo
Continual attempts to overturn or defang the ACA, that millions of people depend on for insurance:
- Trump Is Trying Hard To Thwart Obamacare. How’s That Going? – https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/10/14/768731628/trump-is-trying-hard-to-thwart-obamacare-hows-that-going
- Six ways Trump has sabotaged the Affordable Care Act – https://www.brookings.edu/articles/six-ways-trump-has-sabotaged-the-affordable-care-act/
- Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Strike Down Affordable Care Act – https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/26/us/politics/obamacare-trump-administration-supreme-court.html
Inept handling of the COVID crisis:
- The Trump Administration and the COVID‐19 crisis: Exploring the warning‐response problems and missed opportunities of a public health emergency – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9115435/
- THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S RESPONSE TO CORONAVIRUS – https://www.americanoversight.org/investigation/the-trump-administrations-response-to-coronavirus
- Timeline of Trump’s Coronavirus Responses – https://doggett.house.gov/media/blog-post/timeline-trumps-coronavirus-responses
- Trump White House made ‘deliberate efforts’ to undermine Covid response, report says – https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/trump-white-house-made-deliberate-efforts-undermine-covid-response-report-n1286211
Destructive deregulations:
- The Trump Administration Rolled Back More Than 100 Environmental Rules. Here’s the Full List. – https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/climate/trump-environment-rollbacks-list.html
- Trump’s Deregulation Push Is Setting the Stage for Major National Disasters – https://www.citizen.org/news/trumps-deregulation-push-is-setting-the-stage-for-major-national-disasters/
- Trump deregulated railways and banks. He blames Biden for the fallout – https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/17/donald-trump-railways-banks-deregulation-blames-biden
- Consumers Seen on Hook for $42 Billion From Trump’s Deregulation – https://about.bgov.com/news/consumers-seen-on-hook-for-42-billion-from-trumps-deregulation/
Gaining personally while president of the United States:
- How Trump’s Businesses Benefited During His Presidency – https://www.npr.org/2021/01/19/958472500/how-trumps-businesses-benefited-during-his-presidency
- Trump made up to $160 million from foreign countries as president – https://www.citizensforethics.org/reports-investigations/crew-investigations/trump-made-up-to-160-million-from-foreign-countries-as-president/
- Trump’s Business Hauled In $2.4 Billion During Four Years He Served As President – https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2021/07/19/trumps-business-hauled-in-24-billion-during-four-years-he-served-as-president/?sh=75f1357d10c0
Attempted to overturn a legitimate election for the president of the United States:
- Trump’s Pattern of Pressure to Overturn the 2020 Election – https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/01/08/us/trump-2020-overturn-timeline.html
- Attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attempts_to_overturn_the_2020_United_States_presidential_election
- Trump says it was ‘my decision’ to try to overturn 2020 election results – https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/trump-says-it-was-my-decision-to-try-to-overturn-2020-election-results/
- Widespread election fraud claims by Republicans don’t match the evidence – https://www.brookings.edu/articles/widespread-election-fraud-claims-by-republicans-dont-match-the-evidence/
- No evidence for systematic voter fraud: A guide to statistical claims about the 2020 election – https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2103619118
- Project Veritas admits there was no evidence of election fraud at Pennsylvania post office in 2020 – https://apnews.com/article/election-pennsylvania-postmaster-ballots-2020-project-veritas-327d470d18ec40792ffe4ead61feeb92
In participation with the unscrupulous Mitch McConnell, Trump packed the Supreme Court with young conservatives:
- Donald Trump Supreme Court candidates – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump_Supreme_Court_candidates
- Trump’s appointees are turning the Supreme Court to the right with different tactics – https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/26/politics/trump-kavanaugh-gorsuch-barrett-supreme-court/index.html
- Trump’s Ideological Judges Have Led To Politicized Courts – https://www.americanprogress.org/article/trumps-ideological-judges-led-politicized-courts/
Trump’s Promises (or Threats) for a Second Term:
- Trump’s plans if he returns to the White House include deportation raids, tariffs and mass firings – https://apnews.com/article/trump-policies-agenda-election-2024-second-term-d656d8f08629a8da14a65c4075545e0f
- Trump’s second-term agenda: revenge, trade wars, mass deportations – https://www.reuters.com/world/us/payback-time-trump-plans-mass-firings-deportations-second-term-2023-11-14/
- Trump shares word cloud linking potential second term with ‘revenge’ and ‘dictatorship’ – https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/politics/2023/12/27/trump-poll-dictatorship-revenge-second-term
- Trump’s vow to only be a dictator on ‘day one’ follows growing worry over his authoritarian rhetoric – https://apnews.com/article/trump-hannity-dictator-authoritarian-presidential-election-f27e7e9d7c13fabbe3ae7dd7f1235c72
- Sweeping Raids, Giant Camps and Mass Deportations: Inside Trump’s 2025 Immigration Plans – https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/11/us/politics/trump-2025-immigration-agenda.html
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