By Victoria Venable
Elm Staff Writer
In his latest platform-ridden Twitter rant, GOP candidate, and headline monopolizer Donald Trump spoke about the global economy and the United States’ market ties with China saying what Democrats across the country said when he announced his candidacy, “This could get very messy.” This is just Trump’s most recent sound bite among a summer of newsworthy quotes and platform declarations. It seems that at the beginning of the 2016 presidential election Trump is the trending topic for better or worse.
Trump is no novice to presidential campaigning as he has been threatening with varied degrees of gravity to run since the late 80s, according to Times News. When he announced his most recent and most legitimate campaign in June he was met with equal but opposite reactions throughout the country. He is leading the GOP candidates, virtually all the poll data show that he is rallying his support from the center-right ideological spectrum and isn’t satisfying the demands of far right conservatives or any democrats.
Trump announced his campaign from Trump Tower in New York City, but the event was more notable for his derogatory comments about Mexicans and his tacky ascension from the escalator. In his truest form Trump has decorated his entire campaign with disparaging remarks and sweeping generalizations that alienate massive amounts of voters and highlight his inaptitude as a commander in chief. Trump has guiltlessly attacked his GOP competitors with “unconventional” tactics such as revealing phone numbers of his rivals on live TV or criticizing previous candidate John McCain for his prisoner of war status in Vietnam. “Unconventional” has apparently become synonymous with “unprofessional” and “disrespectful.”
Even Fox News host Megyn Kelly put Trump under fire when she brought up his past history of sexual harassment, misogynistic remarks, and overall bigotry. This particular interview resulted in Trump’s infamous comments about Kelly’s “hormonal” behavior and how she had “blood coming out of her eyes” and “blood coming out of her wherever,” proving once again that Trump knows as much about the female body as he does about the duties of the president or how to behave in public.
While those who are fed up with the economic climate in our country might be tempted to point out the financial forte of Trump, my immediate retort lies in his corporate track record. Although the greedy guru will remind us that he himself has never declared bankruptcy, the lovely people of Atlantic City won’t let us forget his financial failures at the Trump Taj Mahal or the Trump Plaza Hotel, both of which left the city hurting in their time of need, according to “Vanity Fair.” Trump’s personal wealth has always been safe, but if he treats our country the way he treated his numerous failing corporate endeavors will our economy really be any better off?
Writing a piece about the pitfalls of Trump’s campaign or his complete incompetence as a potential president is like sitting in a self-driving car; it pretty much does the work for you. Come November 2016 America will be looking for a strong candidate that can make the last few leaps out of the recession, place a firm foot against foreign threats against our country, and work diplomatically to improve economic relationships with our neighboring nations. America is yearning for an agent for change in educational policy, race relations, and the divisions of wealth. Without any diplomatic experience or knowledge in the policies needed for these changes, Trump is not our man.