He is still as awful as last week
By Cazzy Lewchuk, Opinions Editor
I still can’t believe I’m typing this article.
As we all know, Donald Trump is the President-Elect of the United States of America. Barring unusual circumstances (and who knows, with this man) he will become President on January 20, 2017, leading a Republican-controlled House and Senate.
The amount of scandals and controversy Trump has is unparalleled by magnitudes by any other candidate. We all know the ridiculous things he said and did while running (the man argued women weren’t attractive enough for him to sexually assault, for God’s sake) and yet, he still managed to win.
Now that he’s president-elect, people are still processing the reactions. How do we work with this man? Do we want to give credit to someone who’s normalized and encouraged hatred, racism, xenophobia, and sexism in a way never seen before? In two months, he will hold the position of the most powerful man in the world. How do we keep him under control and avoid America turning into a fascist regime, or being nuked because he let his temper get the best of him?
The media and individuals are discussing Trump in a different way now that he’s been elected. They’re saying to give him a chance, or that he can change in office. Naturally, none of Trump’s behaviour has changed since he began his campaign. He has already nominated alarming people for his staff positions. Most notable is Steve Bannon, a media mogul who runs websites frequented by the “alt-right” and “white nationalist” segments of the internet. Bannon is well-known for his racism, anti-Semitism, and general misogyny. He was even charged with domestic violence in the past. Bannon is literally famous for being a controversial racist, but now that he’s chief strategist for the president-elect, we’re supposed to see him as okay?
Trump is still the same awful fool he was a couple weeks ago. He may have the power, but he’s still a loose cannon and not someone we should normalize. Quite recently, he paid off $25 million in a class-action lawsuit to victims of his fraudulent school, “Trump University.” Such a move for the president is insane, but it’s normal for Trump. The man has literally admitting to ripping people off and working with full-on racists, yet we’re supposed to “give him a chance.” That’s not even getting into the controversies he’s already invoked when running.
Trump is also working on keeping his business empire flowing while governing, and has appointed his children as members of his transition team. He continues to tell blatant lies (such as taking credit for a factory not moving to Mexico, when it was never moving in the first place), throw tantrums, and behave in ways no sane human—let along the president—ever should. He’s been taking phone calls with foreign leaders on unsecure lines without being briefed, another unethical and unheard-of thing for a president-elect to do.
Trump and his supporters have normalized so many ridiculous and terrible things. We need to continue rightfully fighting these things. Indeed, we need to hold Trump more accountable than ever with his newfound power. Most of us were against everything he stood for before the election ended. We need to continue that voice, and challenge the president-elect every step of the way. Just because someone is president-elect doesn’t mean they deserve any more respect than necessary, nor that they should be allowed to continue their destructive behaviour.
