Trump should not be trusted. Here’s why.

Important note before reading this paper:

It is imperative to note that truth is truth regardless of bias. I acknowledge my own biases but biases should always be divorced from fact. If one says that the sky is blue but believes it would be prettier in a shade of green, the statement that the sky is blue remains true despite the underlying bias. Going into this work I state factually accurate statements that are true. Truth exists and persists despite any underlying bias, election, other candidates, past candidates, or whataboutism [the form of argument that distracts from the argument at hand and states “what about” instead of focusing on the facts presented]. These truths are truth no matter who you vote for this season and true no matter who I vote for. The facts are the facts no matter how we feel about them and I hope readers will remember this in reading this paper.

Around the time that the candidates for the presidency were running in 2015, I have struggled to find any one article, essay, or work that fully expressed just how hazardous a Trump presidency would be. Instead, I found many articles, essays, and works that discussed this subject matter. In light of these multiple sources, multiple videos, and recordings of Trump’s very own words, I have decided to, five years later, condense this information into a much shorter paper.

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I had been wary of a Trump presidency five years ago and I find I am even more afraid of a second Trumpian presidency as the past four years Trump has solidified himself as absolutely untrustworthy. Trump should not be trusted. Here’s why.

Trump has historically evaded and conned his way around the legal system and legal loopholes for years and historically the legal ramifications always punish those around him and those in his ostensible team. His life has consistently been built upon skillfully conning people, and I believe his biggest con thus far has been conning the Christian Right. I’ll quote him here from his 1987 book, The Art of the Deal:

. “The final key to the way I promote is bravado. I play to people’s fantasies. People may not always think big themselves, but they can still get very excited by those who do. That’s why a little hyperbole never hurts. People want to believe that something is the biggest and the greatest and the most spectacular. I call it truthful hyperbole. It’s an innocent form of exaggeration — and a very effective form of promotion.”

Truthful hyperbole, exaggeration, playing to people’s fantasies, and the later “alternative facts” we as Americans have been given are better condensed into a more simple, tangible word: lies.

Historians and fact-checkers worldwide have stated that Trump’s false or misleading claims are “unprecedented” in American politics.*

While the lying and misleading of the American people in combination with the gross incompetence and ethical standards of our president are reprehensible as is, the blatant falsehoods Trump has spread during the Covid-19 pandemic loudly blasts the proverbial trumpet on just how false this man’s rhetoric is.

Here is some fact-checking on Trump’s COVID-19 falsehoods:**

•Travel ban in January

While the travel ban blocked individuals who had been in China for the last 14 days, US citizens and certain qualified foreign nationals were exempted. In reality, the CDC warned about the risk of travel-related cases ten full days before Trump implemented these loose travel restrictions.

•Trump’s statement that “When somebody is the president of the United States, the authority is total”

This is not true. Thankfully, due to the beauty that is America, our founding fathers made it blatantly clear that one man does not have “total authority” over the country in Article II of the constitution. Now this part is of my opinion: The scariest thing to me is that, if any democrat were to say this, American Christians would be up in arms. It is highly disturbing to me that we as a nation are not more upset about these words.

•Trump’s claim that “When I did China, it had never been done before,” he said. “I was the first one to do it.”

This is false. Six countries imposed travel restrictions even before the World Health Organization declared a global health emergency on Jan. 30.

•Trump’s repeated claims that the US is the leader in testing

This is false. Governors in several states this week said they are still not able to give a test to anyone who wants one, with many calling on the federal government to do more to aid their efforts.

•Trump’s repeated praise for both Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine in conjunction with the statement “What do you have to lose? Take it”

Repeated tests by incredible scientists worldwide have deemed this to have no effect on the disease. What is heartbreaking about Trump’s repeated touting of a drug is that Trump himself has no medical training and Republicans and Democrats alike have warned him on pushing a drug to the American people that he knows nothing about and people have died or been hospitalized due to listening to our president telling them to take a drug.

•In addition to the reality that this is not a partisan issue but a Trumpian issue, Trump confirmed that he purposely snubbed Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, the only Republican senator out of 53 senators not to be added to the president’s task force to re-open the economy. Trump purposely bars those who don’t agree with him, regardless of political alignment.

•A stunning number of people that Trump has surrounded himself with have been proven corrupt and jailed. Instead of acknowledging this and leading America towards greatness in this troubling time, Trump took the time to call the FBI director “human scum”.

•Trump’s statement the WHO “really blew it”

Journalist Brian J Karem asked Trump on 2/28 about the WHO’s report that the threat of COVID-19 had increased. Trump blew off the question, instead, talking about his next rally.

•Trump’s statement that he is doing better than Obama during H1N1 is false in addition to his statement that Biden was in charge of the response is false. Why compare presidencies in a time of trauma, especially when it is verifiably false? Braggadocio and a better-than-thou mindset will not heal our nation.

•One of the most shocking lies stated by Trump was not in light of the lie itself, but in the reality that he directly denied he had said something just seventeen minutes after saying it on camera. “We’re going to put a hold on money spent to the [World Health Organization],” Trump said. “We’re going to put a very powerful hold on it.” Seventeen minutes later, Trump was asked when the best time would be to put a hold on the funding for WHO. He replied, saying that he did not say what he had just said. “I mean, I’m not saying I’m going to do it, but we’re going to look at it.”

To quote the Conservative Commentator Ben Shapiro, “facts don’t care about your feelings”. Whatever you feel about these truths you have read today do not reflect on what truth is. The truth is non-partisan, and the truth clearly shows that Trump is a habitual liar who cannot be trusted.

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*False or misleading claims sources:

• Fact Checker (October 9, 2019). “In 993 days, President Trump has made 13,435 false or misleading claims”. The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 24, 2019.
• * Fact Checker (December 10, 2019). “President Trump has made 15,413 false or misleading claims over 1,055 days”. The Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 17, 2019.
• * Dale, Daniel (June 5, 2019). “Donald Trump has now said more than 5,000 false things as president”. Toronto Star. Archived from the original on October 3, 2019.
• * Dale, Daniel (January 6, 2020). “Internal chart of Trump’s false claims per day from July 8 (2019)”. CNN. Archived from the original on January 6, 2020. (image of chart).
• * Fact Checker (January 19, 2020). “In 1,095 days, President Trump has made 16,241 false or misleading claims”. The Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 20, 2019.
• * Fact Checker (April 3, 2020). “In 1,170 days, President Trump has made 18,000 false or misleading claims”. The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 15, 2020.
• * Dale, Daniel (March 9, 2020). “Trump is averaging about 59 false claims per week since … July 8, 2019.”. CNN. Archived from the original on March 9, 2020. (direct image of chart)

**COVID-19 Fact checking sources

https://www.propublica.org/article/no-president-trump-the-coronavirus-is-nothing-like-h1n1-swine-flu-either

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tarahaelle/2020/03/23/man-dead-from-taking-chloroquine-after-trump-touts-drug-for-coronavirus/

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/04/trumps-lies-about-coronavirus/608647/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tarahaelle/2020/03/23/man-dead-from-taking-chloroquine-after-trump-touts-drug-for-coronavirus/

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/family-new-york-woman-blames-hydroxychloroquine-combo-fatal-heart-attack-n1185451

https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-chloroquine-study-in-brazil-aborted-after-deaths/a-53188219

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/insane-many-scientists-lament-trump-s-embrace-risky-malaria-drugs-coronavirus