This morning I Googled “List of reasons to not vote for Trump”.
I am still digging through the results. I wanted something that we could all share with that one last “undecided” voter we might run across. The Kool Aid drinkers are too braindead to change their thinking. I wouldn’t waste my time on them. But somewhere out there is somebody who is on the fence or just hasn’t paid attention until now. Hard to imagine…but it is a strange new world.
What follows is from Dennis Wright, a Republican writing as a contributor for the Beaumont Enterprise - a newspaper in Texas. I don’t know anything else about him. But I tip my hat to his clear thinking and values on this issue. Hope does spring eternal.
August 14, 2024
When Republicans talk about what a great president Donald Trump was, they tend to speak in vague generalities. However, all but the blindest Ever Trumpers concede he is not a likeable person. What an understatement! Trump is without a doubt the most flawed individual to ever hold office — a racist, homophobe, Islamaphobe, misogynist, serial liar, sexual offender and sociopathic narcissist. That’s not the kind of person you would want your daughter to marry.
Those are my generalities. Now let me list some specific reasons I could never consider voting for this vile person.
1. Unilaterally surrendered Afghanistan to the Taliban and deserted our allies in the region. He stupidly announced the date we would withdraw.
2. Unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 nuclear ban, throwing the Mideast into chaos.
3. Cozied up to the leaders of our three top enemies — China, Russia and North Korea — while alienating our European allies.
4. Took $3.8 billion from the Department of Defense to spend on his ineffective border wall. Trump only built about 50 miles of new border wall, the other 450 miles were replacing existing walls. This cost about $15 billion of which Mexico paid nothing. Trump had promised 1,000 miles of wall.
5. Promised to wipe out the trade deficit with China. The trade deficit was $481 billion when he took office and $679 billion when he left.
6. Promised to wipe out the federal debt by the end of his second term. He had the largest deficit in history $7.8 trillion.
7. Paid a $25 million fine for defrauding students at his sketchy Trump University
8. Was fined $355 million for defrauding New York banks.
9. Was ordered to pay $83.3 million in a sexual defamation lawsuit.
10. Conviction in the Stormy Daniel’s hush money trial.
11. Failure in the Charlotte racial protests to condemn the deadly criminal actions of the Neo Nazis and wanted to use American Army troops against Black protesters, which is of course prohibited by the US Constitution.
12. First impeachment for trying to solicit foreign help in his reelection bid.
13. Second impeachment for his attempt to prevent the peaceful transition of power and inciting the Capitol insurrection.
14. Finally at number one, his greatest failure was the disgraceful mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to his failure to encourage mask wearing, social distancing, expediting development and distribution of test kits and taking the vaccine when it became available, the U.S. had one of the highest deaths per 100,000 people in the world.
The percentage of deaths in red states was markedly higher than blue states. Over 1 million Americans died of COVID. How many Americans needlessly died because of Trump’s leadership failure? At least tens of thousands if not more than a hundred thousand Americans would still be alive today if Trump had done his job.
For that failure alone, he should never be allowed to hold any office, much less president.
Am I excited about Kamala Harris being elected president? Not at all. Will I vote for her? Absolutely! I wish the Democrats would have selected a different candidate at their convention, but she could not possibly do as much damage as a Trump reelection. Had the spineless Republican Senate convicted Trump in either of his impeachments and prohibited him from ever again running for president, I would be voting for the Republican candidate. If Harris wins, the Republican Party only has itself to blame supporting their deeply-flawed loser.
I am sure Dennis won’t mind if we copy and paste his list. I am still reading through others, but this one really works for me. Number 14 itself is enough if you are still angry about the unnecessary deaths of your fellow Americans. Isn’t Trump actually guilty of murder - at least manslaughter?
Of course, this was written before Bob Woodward’s revelation that Trump sent Covid Testing equipment to Putin while his constituents were starting to die by the thousands…
For more on Woodward’s book read this Guardian article.
”Trump secretly gave Putin Covid test machines, Bob Woodward book says”
https://www.beaumontenterprise.com/opinions/columns/article/trump-presidency-flaws-19654003.php
I may not agree with Dennis Wright on everything - unlike him, I AM excited about Kamala Harris, and I will never vote for a Republican presidential candidate - but those are 14 very good reasons not to vote for Trump. It's a great reminder of the TFG's behavior while in office; people have short memories. Excellent editorial cartoon (uncredited) as well.
As for finding this COVID/Putin information out before the election, thank you Bob Woodward! But I question why we have to wait for a book to be published to find out something Trump did which is so vile and happened several years ago.