Opinion Staff Editorial

EDITORIAL: Do not vote for Trump this election

This election cycle began with 17 candidates for the Grand Old Party, and by some fortune, it has narrowed to one: demagogue Donald Trump.

We, The Cougar staff, have decided that, for this election cycle, it is less important who wins and that more weight rests on who doesn’t win. We have chosen not to endorse any candidate for president, but the editorial board unanimously agrees that Trump should not become the next commander-in-chief of the United States.

Trump’s divisive statements and blatant fear-mongering are a step back from the progress made by this country during the Obama administration. But he is not just too conservative. He is a liar. A sexual predator. A threat to the stability of our nation.

Accomplished Republican leaders like Sen. John McCain and former Secretary of State Colin Powell have distanced themselves from Trump for these reasons. Even our own UH College Republicans have refused to endorse him.

But Trump’s many flaws are not the fault of his supporters. They have fallen victim to the idea that the changing colors of the national population equates to a lesser America. Centuries of xenophobia, social Darwinism, colonialist thought and racism — both casual and overt — underlie this false assumption.

Trump started his campaign with an unfounded racial stereotype: branding Mexicans as rapists. He continued his false rhetoric when he asked for a ban on Muslims and suggested a database to track them.

He has insulted veterans on multiple occasions by downplaying post-traumatic stress disorder and criticizing McCain for being captured and held as a POW. Trump mocked our very own UH alumna, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, by calling her Pocahontas.

He has proven himself unable to uphold a shred of respect for women, spewing countless sound-bites of denigrating attacks based on appearance and old-school sexism. We cannot allow for “locker room banter” to become oval office banter — in fact, that kind of speech doesn’t belong anywhere. 

Entering the last leg of the race, we have seen a man run a campaign by capitalizing on fear, spreading misinformation and encouraging bigotry. His policies, if you can call them that, are no better than his personality. Building another border wall would waste tax dollars, and his economic policies would worsen the national debt. If he wins, the U.S. might have much bigger problems than him just saying something offensive.

Trump doesn’t deserve the honor of a single vote, let alone the presidency. When you go to the election booth this Tuesday, vote for whomever you want, but don’t forget every instance that has proven Trump is unqualified and undeserving for the oval office.

The Democratic Party boasts the first female presidential candidate, and the rise of Jill Stein on the Green Party is an uptick in the political presence of women, even as the bi-partisan system shows sign of failure. Both are highly educated and active politicians whose resumes hold far more extensive accomplishments than Trump’s smoke-and-mirrors business ventures.

Even Gary Johnson, a mostly conservative candidate who literally didn’t know where Aleppo is, has a pro-choice stance on reproductive rights for women.

Trump wants to do the opposite of what we have come so far to accomplish. Do not vote for Donald Trump this Election Day if you value equal and fair rights for all.

Whomever wins, this election will be historic: Either we will elect the first woman president, or we will have chosen a man who brags about grabbing women by their genitalia.

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