This election is shaping up to be one of the most critical elections in our history. This presidential race is not only about Democrats against Republicans; it’s about saving American democracy. That may seem like an over-exaggeration, but unfortunately, it is not.
Our current president is one of the most unhinged and dangerous presidents we have had in a considerably long time. As a result of his reckless actions, America has become the laughing stock of the world. At this point, it seems as if some of the damage that has been done is irreparable, but it can be fixed if Donald Trump doesn’t get elected for a second term.
The range of issues at stake in this election is incredibly extensive, but one of the most pressing issues is the COVID-19 pandemic mismanagement. America has done so poorly that almost every other country in the world has closed its borders to us; no one wants Americans in their country. The United States only makes up four percent of the world but approximately 20% of the cases and just about 20% of the deaths. This is a pretty sad statistic for one of the most advanced countries in the world. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Trump knew the dangers, but instead, he ignored them and proceeded to call it a hoax in an attempt to further his political agenda. This horrific mismanagement has cost over 220,000 Americans their lives and caused the economy to plummet.
President Trump’s divisive nature is yet another one of the reasons he is a danger to our country. Earlier in the year, the issue of police brutality in our country finally hit its breaking point, and about 26 million people took to the streets to protest for change. Instead of allowing the American people to exercise their first amendment right, he teargassed protesters for a photoshoot. For the months that followed, our so-called president added fuel to the fire instead of doing a single thing to address the issue at hand. He has boasted about “Law and Order,” retweeted various insensitive videos, called Black Lives Matter a hate group, and refused to condemn white supremacy. Finally, on multiple occasions, he has dismissed the idea of systemic racism.
All of those actions are incredibly unpresidential and do absolutely nothing to heal our country’s racial divide. Our nation is at a pivotal point in our history, and if our country as a whole cannot see the issue with his actions, we will be moving backward. In the current climate in America, we need a president who is willing to try to unite us instead of being a hatemonger.
Another of one the issues at stake in this election is the fundamental rights of LGBTQ+ people. Trump has recently been attempting to confirm a Supreme Court nominee before the election, who is on board with his anti-LGBTQ agenda. If given the chance, I am confident that Obergefell vs. Hodges would be turned over under the Trump administration, and the Supreme Court has set the stage to do so. For those who are unfamiliar, Obergefell vs. Hodges is the Supreme Court ruling that allowed same-sex couples to be married. Furthermore, the Trump/Pence administration has been making an effort to strip transgender people of civil rights protections and make it harder for LGBTQ+ people to access health care. The Trump administration has also tried to deny LGBTQ+ employees their civil rights protections. Every single one of these actions is an attack on the civil rights and freedoms of American citizens.
While our country is in the midst of a pandemic, Donald Trump is trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act or the ACA. The ACA provides healthcare to about 20 million people in the United States. Since day one, Trump has claimed that he would offer an alternative but is yet to unveil a comprehensive plan. Only a maniac would even think of taking away healthcare for millions of people during a pandemic. Since we are in the midst of a global health crisis, more people will become reliant on the ACA to access healthcare. Additionally, before the ACA, health insurance companies regularly discriminated against women, and if the ACA is repealed, this could happen again. Without the Affordable Care Act, women could be charged up to three times more than men for healthcare than before. Not only does the ACA protect against discrimination based on sex, but it also protects against discrimination based on sexual orientation. The ACA also protects against racial discrimination in the healthcare industry, which is an absolute necessity. Affordable healthcare should not be a privilege: it is a human right. Right now, we are one of the only advanced countries that don’t have universal healthcare, and we are trying to get rid of the closest things we have.
I wish I was done listing everything at stake in this election, but sadly, I am not. The next issue Trump is attacking is women’s rights. Not only is Trump attempting to control women’s reproductive rights, but he has also made various statements saying that he would defund Planned Parenthood in his second term. Not that anyone in his administration would know or care, but Planned Parenthood does not only perform abortions. They provide other services like STD testing and treatment, birth control, well-woman exams, cancer screening and prevention, hormone therapy, infertility services, and general health care. As I said in regards to the Affordable Care Act, the possibility of that bill being overturned threatens women in America yet again.
As if all of that was not enough, this administration is rolling back workplace protections for discrimination based on sex and sexual harassment. As of last year, as much as 85% of women have experienced harassment in the workplace at some point in their lives, and about 50% of women face discrimination based on their gender in the workplace. By rolling back the protections for gender discrimination and sexual harassment, these numbers are bound to go up. In addition to his horrible policies in relation to women, Donald Trump has made numerous sexist remarks and has been accused of unwanted sexual contact by roughly 25 women.
Next up for policies that are at stake is immigration, which has been under fire by the Trump administration since the very beginning. It’s no secret Trump is absolutely against immigration and on many occasions he has launched verbal attacks on Mexican immigrants. Our president said, “They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.” Trump’s hate speech has been perpetuating the inaccurate stereotype that immigrants only bring crime to our country. In addition to these anti-immigration and blatantly false claims, it is said that by the year 2021, the Trump administration will have reduced legal immigration by 49%. Immigrants come to America to better their lives and their children’s lives, but instead, they are met with hate and vitriol. Family separation at the border is only one of the many horrible aspects of his horrific policies. Recently,the Trump administration lost the parents of over 500 kids, causing them to become orphans. Along with misplaced parents, the conditions that the children are living in are appalling. These innocent children are living in filthy, crowded cages. Recently, ICE has received allegations of performing unwanted hysterectomies on women in detention centers, which is illegal in numerous ways and violates human rights. The lives and rights of immigrants are at stake in this election.
Last but not least, the future of our planet is up in the air. Trump has denied the threat of climate change for so long, at this point, we can no longer ignore the danger that denial poses. One of the world’s top scientists said a second term for Trump could cause irreversible damage to the climate. In 2017, Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris Climate Accord, which is an agreement within the UN to combat climate change. His administration has already rolled back 72 climate protections and is planning on rolling back 27 more. If Trump gets a second term, it doesn’t just threaten our country; it threatens our entire planet.
This election is possibly one of the most, if not the most important, elections in our country’s history. If every single policy listed is not enough for you, Donald Trump is a profoundly corrupt human being who is an existential threat to the United States. Our pathetic excuse for a president said he cannot commit to a peaceful power transfer and has said he wants to negotiate for a third term. As a country, we cannot allow him to ruin what we have worked for hundreds of years to build.
