By Hazel Macmillan
Editor’s note: Macmillan is a ninth-grader at Harwood Union High School. She is a member of the varsity girls’ soccer team and the school's Leadership Team and she wrote this speech for Mr. Ibson's English class.
What began as a joke is now terrifying the nation, the world and the people within it. I am speaking upon the candidacy of Donald J. Trump. The man with a $4.5 billion net worth and the owner of the Miss USA Pageant. A man repeatedly called a buffoon, an Oompa Loompa, a laughingstock and Voldemort is the man representing America. We are at the point where he is no longer entertaining. So we must ask ourselves, is this candidate, ahead of his Republican constituents by 22 percent in the polls, the man we want leading our nation?
A good president is a person who faces crises informed, understands what the people need and deals well under pressure. They need to be professional, driven, tough, intelligent, trustworthy and decisive. One of our greatest presidents, Franklin D. Roosevelt, said, “I ask you to judge me by the enemies I have made.” Univision, NBC, Televisa and Macy's. Seventy-two percent of U.S. Latinos. Muslims wishing to enter our country. Climate change believers. Immigrants, pro-choice citizens, LGBTQ members of our society, innocent families of ISIS and gun-control-pushers. All of these are enemies of Donald Trump. He himself describes the world as binary: good or bad, smart or stupid, rich or poor and with this candidate, you either love him or hate him. But with his mean stand-up and improv-style rhetoric, he has offended and insulted many, gaining more and more enemies in the process. He has garnered the hate of almost all of the world's demographics. His enemies show us something that can be interpreted in two vastly different ways: Trump’s enemies are right or, let me say this in the way Donald would prepare you for a reckless line, “Are you ready?” Trump is right.
Trump owns 30 percent of the Republican’s votes yet can't master simple traits of presidents, politicians or even decent people. The next leader of our nation needs to be honest, consistent and have at least a basic set of morals. It is a well-known fact that politicians lie and often know they are lying to get a vote. Trump not only lies time and time again but makes completely unimaginable and false statements. In one instance, Trump talked about his memory of 9/11 saying, “I watched in Jersey City where thousands and thousands of Muslims were cheering as the building was coming down. So something is going on.” This September 11 story never happened. But this is his secret, his recipe for “success.” Trump stirs up fear, often with false information, and then offers one of his ridiculous solutions like a massive wall along the Mexican border. We need a person who runs to make our world a better, hopeful place, not a more fearful nation.
Trump is not only considered a joke because he's constantly wrong, he's also considered a joke because he is inconsistent with his stances. On November 22, he retweeted an image incorrectly, claiming 81 percent of white murders in the U.S. we're committed by blacks. A week later he met with African-American pastors and Trump said he will increase employment among black youth. His followers, a majority of whom have a high school degree or less, are amazed by his rash, confident, and authentic way of speaking. During rallies, these supporters on “Donald Trump inspiration highs” have spit on, punched, attacked, forcibly removed, and verbally harassed protesters in the crowd. At one rally a Civil Rights activist began shouting in the middle of an almost entirely white audience. A video shows a middle aged white woman walk up and kick the black man in the stomach as a police officer holds him. Trump responded, “Maybe he should have been roughed up a little bit.” It's one thing to be a racist politician. It's another thing to be a politician promising support to African-American youth one day and the next day promoting the attack against a black man.
Time Magazine says he's “a leader who appealed improperly to emotion and prejudice to gain power.” During World War I, this fear-style rhetoric had a devastating impact on many German-Americans. Immigrant groups were harassed and in one case a German coal miner who applied for a job was lynched. Germans were seen as the enemy, but this was in a massive war. Today, ISIS is seen as our biggest threat; the San Bernardino shooting and the Paris attacks were on western people. This isn't a war, but that is how Trump sees it. Reactions that explained the importance of unity was the response of many leaders. Some Republicans even began brainstorming invasive game plans for attacks on ISIS. Trump's response was the proposal to ban all Muslims wishing to enter our country. “We need to aggressively take on radical Islamic terrorism but not at the expense of our American values," said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus. Trump uses his fear tactic backed up with Islamophobia to make the assumption that all Muslims are terrorists or threats and that they will destroy our country. This has destabilized the relationship between Muslims everywhere and the U.S. Trump has attempted to tear America apart.
Fear tactic leadership, enemies, ISIS, Trump supporters, African-Americans, lies, and the truth. Trump and the campaign he has created is moving America to think. What are our values, our stances, and our roles? How do we respond to this dictator-like businessman? And could this person in fact be our president? We need to take Trump seriously. He is no longer a joke. With money and power, we know almost anything is possible. He has already come far, so we must consider him a candidate and we must respond.
