There are many, many reasons not to vote for Donald Trump: his history as a business cheat, the way he has handled immigration, his refusal to comply with congressional oversight, etc., etc. It is very hard to make a list of his serious transgressions without forgetting some. There are so many.
But the following five items are important because each individual one, by itself, is not only sufficient reason to want Donald Trump out of office, but each one is important enough by itself that it should be disqualifying. Each one is bad enough that no decent person should ever vote for Donald Trump simply due to that one item, bad enough that no decent person ever will vote for him.
The Birther Lie
Donald Trump was the most prominent proponent of the Birther conspiracy - the racist, un-American, unpatriotic lie that claimed that President Obama was not born in the United States. And even if you don't believe that this conspiracy was racist, unpatriotic, and un-American - you're wrong, but let's just say anyway - you should believe this: it was an incredibly stupid idea that appealed to racists and was sold, by Donald Trump, to some of the dumbest people on the planet.
After all, there was never any even marginally believable evidence that it was true. People just believed it because they wanted to believe it because they hated Barack Obama, whether because of his ethnicity or his politics or something else. They did not believe it due to a rational weighing of the evidence - in fact, you had to ignore a lot of solid evidence to be a birther.
And that brings up a further point: Donald Trump almost certainly knew that what he was pedaling was a lie. It can be hard, I admit, to tell where the line is between reality and fantasy with Trump, but he is smart enough to understand the difference between a crazy story versus all the evidence indicating Obama was born in Hawaii. As with a lot of things that he says, chances are Trump just didn't care if it was true or not. He just cared about what worked for him.
Disrespect Toward Women
There is so much here. Cheating on his wives, paying off a porn star, bragging about sexual assault on the Access Hollywood tape, 26 charges of sexual misconduct, two charges of rape including rape of a 13-year old, insulting women reporters and women politicians, and just this week telling women he will get their husbands back to work(!) and treating Senator Martha McSally, a Republican, with complete contempt at a rally in Arizona.
But there were two incidents that should have finished Trump. First, he implied that Ted Cruz's wife was unattractive. What sort of person does that, in the middle of a national political race? Just disgusting. Second thing: he indicated to his supporters, with phrases like "Take a look at her" and "I don't think so," that at least two of the 26 women who accused him of sexual misconduct were not attractive enough for him to have assaulted. What sort of person says anything like that, ever?
Not the sort that any decent person would vote for, for President or anything else.
20,000 Lies
As of a moment ago, it was 22,247 lies according to the Washington Post. That's a lot. He is undoubtedly the most well-documented liar in history, literally, no exaggeration. He lies all the time, about everything.
As a result, we can't trust anything he says. Even if he tells the truth on occasion, we need verification from an independent party in order to trust it.
Politicians make mistakes and sometimes lie, but not on the scale that Trump does. He is fundamentally untrustworthy. He is not worthy of anyone's vote.
Lock Them Up
Whenever Trump mentions Hillary Clinton at one of his rallies, the crowd starts chanting "Lock her up!" Trump does not lead the chants, but he does not tell people to stop. He could stop the chants, but he likes them. Locking up your political opponents for imagined crimes is not what American politicians do; that is the kind of thing that happens in countries where the only rule of law is whatever the Supreme Leader says it is. But here in the United States, Trump encourages this thinking, and has even said that he approves of the chants.
Trump has also called for the imprisonment of Barack Obama and Joe Biden for imagined crimes and suggested that a reporter should be arrested for not writing about a story Trump was pushing, another fake scandal involving Joe Biden's son. He has also complained that the Justice Department is not doing enough to investigate his political opponents.
This is not how America works. We do not need politicians who abuse their power by threatening to lock up their opponents. No one should accept this behavior.
COVID-19
What the pandemic exposed about Trump was that, when faced with a significant challenge, he just was not capable of leading the response. Yes, other countries had problems dealing with the virus, and they continue to have problems, but it was more than bad results that demonstrated Trump's failure; the way he approached the problem was all over the place - inconsistent, dishonest, counter-productive, and incompetent. He downplayed the virus. He questioned the value of masks and then ridiculed people for wearing them. He held mass-spreader rallies and events. He questioned the nation's experts. He promised the virus would just go away, without any evidence. He promoted unproven drugs. He lied about the timeline for a vaccine. Even now, he insists we are "turning the corner" as in fact cases are the highest they have ever been, and climbing every week.
Any president might have had trouble controlling the virus, but almost anyone else would have avoided the string of errors Trump made. The problem just overwhelmed his abilities. He does not belong in the office, He just is not ready, and never will be.
Very Fine People
Democrats are, if nothing else, reliably politically correct. We don't want to believe that there is something fundamentally wrong with our neighbors, friends, and family who support Donald Trump. But look at those five reasons above. Would any decent person choose Donald Trump to lead this country? Can anyone just ignore all that and pretend that he is the leader we need? And honestly, if those reasons are not enough, there are many, many others.
Donald Trump will get more than forty percent of the votes in this election. It a a national disgrace that he will get any votes at all.
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