Every time you disagree with something Trump says, every time you feel disgusted by something he says, every time you directly respond to his policy proposals or speeches, HE HAS DEFEATED YOU. Donald Trump is not stupid. He may not be eloquent. He may not know everything about law, policy, and philosophy. However, he seems to want to get elected, and he and his advisers have found the secret sauce of speech to get attention, primary votes, and poll numbers.
His speech has nothing to do with policy or truth. It is a theater to win an election. If you watch A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and leave the theater disappointed because you feel that the movie was scientifically unrealistic you have no understanding of what science fiction is. If you read an Onion article and think to yourself, ‘That can’t be true!’ then you fail to understand satire. If you hear Trump say that Mexico is going to build a wall on the American border because Americans want less illegal immigration and Mexico has a trade surplus with the United States, you are showing a lack of understanding of Trump politics. The “Wall” is a giant façade he has built to drum up support and get elected.
Nothing he says does he necessarily believes. He will simply say whatever he thinks is necessary to get elected. That is unethical. The speech, when it is racist, bigoted, xenophobic, or misogynistic, engenders these problems and validates the beliefs and behaviors of people who truly do feel that way. Furthermore, there is an expectation in representative democracy that a candidate’s speech will reflect their true beliefs and desired future actions if they are to be elected. In that manner we can evaluate candidates and select the ones that we believe will best represent us. Disingenuous speech betrays this tradition. Expose this farce rather than playing right into it.
When you directly respond or complain about Donald Trump you are implicitly validating his speech and his candidacy. You give it a degree of truth, rather than exposing it as a façade for an inadequate candidate. Most egregiously, by elevating the beliefs of Trump supporters to the national stage you are giving them a collective voice. Rather than dismissing their platform as pseudo-scientific and based in racism and bigotry their ideas are elevated to a stance in equal stature with legitimate democratic ideas. What you need to do is stay above the speech. Say loud and clear on your Facebook that he is saying things to get elected, and then explain that someone who does such a thing is unethical and not worthy of being elected. This allows the more genuine political speech to stay above the fray.
In no way do I place the blame on regular people. The media is certainly to blame for the elevation of Trump’s speech and ideas to mainstream and the level of legitimate presidential candidates. The media feels that people like watching, reading, and hearing about the things that Donald Trump says, so they give him free PR, 24/7. Money does not just control policy making in the public sphere, but it also controls communication in the public sphere. The media has completely legitimized Donald Trump’s speech and ideas and elevated them to the stature of legitimate ideas. If someone without the commercial appeal of Donald Trump was so racist and bigoted the media would dismiss them outright and not broadcast them nearly as much as they broadcast Trump. However, since the media sees money in Trump they have elevated his speech along with his poll numbers.
What you need to do is resist. Stop watching, listening to, and reading conglomerated news media. Seek independent news sources. What you need to do is stay above the fray on Facebook. Don’t call him disgusting. Don’t directly respond to his policy proposals. Instead say outright that these are not legitimate proposals but instead simply the speech of someone desperate the get elected. Presidential candidates are just like heroin addicts in withdraw. They will say absolutely anything to get what they want – in the case of addicts, a hit, and in the case of candidates, a vote. Make people realize this.
Lastly, we need to realize that in many ways Donald Trump is no different from other politician. McCain and Romney did it, absolutely. Barack Obama too, as well as Hilary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and all of the other primary candidates. Abolish the IRS? Ted Cruz went to Princeton. He knows that we cannot abolish the IRS. However, he understands that what he says is meaningless. He needs to win votes, and he understands that stupid Americans dislike the IRS and will vote for him if he vilifies the IRS. The only difference is that Trump is doing this more publicly than other politicians and the news media is propelling it to new heights because his previous stature in the media (The Apprentice, etc.) made him an instant hit.
Donald Trump is an immoral person not because he says nasty things about minorities. I am not convinced that he believes those things. He is an immoral person because he is empowering the bad people who do believe these things and who act accordingly. Resist.
I agree with a lot of what you said. I especially agree with the paragraph about how everyone else does it as well. The Ted Cruz wants to abolish the IRS and he went to Princeton comment was especially hilarious/true. But doesn’t that undermine the point a little bit? If Drumpf is just doing what everyone else is doing but to a higher degree, isn’t that a little bit harder to point to as reason he shouldn’t be allowed near the election? Instead of arguing shades of disingenuity, I think it is important to point out that instead of just being willing to say whatever to get elected, he is willing to say terrible terrible things to get elected. That, to me, speaks more to his character and quickly gets to the center of the issue as to why he is completely unfit for office. Since what really differentiates him from the rest of the politicians is not that he is willing to pander (even more), but rather that he is unconcerned by giving a loud voice to some unacceptable things, I think it is important to point out the locura in what he says. Maybe he isn’t racist (MAYBE), but he is ok with racism. And that’s not ok with me nor should it be ok with voters. I 100% agree with you that playing into his game is letting him win. He is absolutely not stupid, at least in terms of attention and playing people. Inciting violence at his rallies plays into his hands. But calmly and logically pointing out the severe worldwide danger in his insane/offensive (suggested) policies I think is an effective tool for showing why he is unfit for the presidency.