It is about to be one year since Donald Trump vowed to make America great “again,” and many are still figuring out how he will do it.
Now the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, he has given some ideas, but no substance or details. Instead, Trump uses anger to galvanize the masses and a dangerous tone to get his message across. He has conjured a fury in which minorities are not allowed to speak up.
Some may wonder — what does that say about the current state of this country?
His resentment is the building blocks of a plan to build a wall at the border, and he insists that Mexico will pay for it. Trump’s uncontrollable rage wants to repeal Obamacare, but doesn’t exactly know what he wants to do once it’s gone. His irrationality causes a daily flip-flop on torture, which clearly disregards both domestic and international laws.
Trump’s ire declares the United States must ban all Muslims from entering the country. When most preach peace and denounce those practicing radical Islam, the mogul allows Ku Klux Klan to be relevant again via a “faulty earpiece.” For a man who claims not to be a politician, Trump clearly knows how to play the game.
The United States cannot elect a man like this. He has called Mexicans rapists, accused a president of lying about weapons of mass destruction and has also mentioned on a couple of very public occasions the adequate size of his manhood.
Trump has continually shown that he will exclude the livelihoods and ideas of different countries and ethnicities. At one same rally, he yelled “All lives matter!” while kicking out a group of Black Lives Matter advocates and asked a Hispanic protester if she was from Mexico. Trump’s message of trying to make America white — excuse me, great — again is really resonating with people.
Trump claims he could shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue and his supporters would remain loyal to him. He advocates violence at his rallies against those who object to him. Dissenters claim that Obama is dividing the country, but they haven’t seen a Trump rally with his protesters in the crowd.
Should he be president, Trump’s placating to people’s anger could endanger the state of the country. He infects people’s minds for the worse, using scare tactics to murder progress made by great individuals before us.
In a time where the Black Lives Matter movement, immigration, LGBT equality and the progression of feminism are at society’s forefront, Trump’s words take a portion of the population back to a time many would like to forget. He’s not just splitting the party of Lincoln and Reagan; he’s dividing a country, regressing and polluting the minds of a generation who have never asked for a division.
Americans do not need a leader who throws a tantrum when people disagree with his rhetoric or who gets angry when the media tries to fact check him. The people need someone interested in bettering lives and seeking national unity.
The U.S. never stopped being great. People continue to come to our shores to live better lives, not to destroy dreams of others. The land of opportunity is great enough for people to continually clamor for a U.S. citizenship. Trump should see this instead of letting his angry blinders guide him.
Trump’s message is hollow, his demeanor scary and his tone is reminiscent of a schoolyard bully demanding the middle class’s lunch money.
If this is the cost of making America great again, no one should pay it.
Odus Evbagharu has been recently accepted to the University of Houston and can be reached at opinion@thedailycougar.com
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“Trump provides breeding ground for division, negativity” was originally posted on The Daily Cougar