Elizabeth Poisel
Staff Writer
poiselela82@lakeforest.edu
My question for you: is it ethical for Donald J. Trump, who is currently facing countless federal charges – some relating to his actions and validity as president in the first place – and has previously been impeached not once, but twice, to not only run, but have a strong possibility of becoming president again?
How many times must this man be tried, impeached, and indicted for us to deny his candidacy for president?
Going into the Iowa caucus, there were many situational factors that heavily played into the outcome. Currently we are still unaware of the results of the Democratic party’s caucus; however, the results are in for the Republican party. The winner, by a landslide, was former President Donald J. Trump. Following this result, Ron DeSantis, the second-place winner, dropped out of the presidential race, endorsing Trump in the process. This leaves Nikki Haley and Donald Trump as the only two options going into the New Hampshire primary.
How silly I feel now, when I look back on my celebrations when Trump was first impeached. Little did I know that soon there would be a shift into a second impeachment and long-lasting federal trials that have yielded us next to nothing. The executive branch system is built for white men, and that must be the only explanation for how many times he has been accused, whether rightfully or wrongfully, leading to a second conservative-backed bid for presidency.
I understand that Trump shares many popular conservative views and that can be very appealing for heavily Conservative individuals; however, one cannot deny the sheer number of accusations, trials, charges, and countless other factors that should be held against him.
His various proposals made during his campaign are expansive and differ polarly from current President Biden’s proposals for the upcoming presidential term. One of Trump’s big-ticket items is his plan to “totally obliterate the deep state.” His goal is to reissue an executive order made in 2020 that would allow the reclassification of many employees. This would effectively remove civil service protections for thousands of employees nation-wide. Beyond that, he has expressed his interest in immigration laws that would all but stop the flow of foreign peoples from specifically targeted countries, specifically in South America and the Middle East, into America. Though he has many goals for his potential second term, a huge focus is on the currently active transgender rights in America. This has been an ongoing public issue for many years now that has yet to be resolved. His goal is to first pass a bill that would establish that only two genders, male and female, exist at birth and are recognized by the United States. Furthermore, he would like to ban legal access to hormonal and surgical intervention for transgender minors. Finally, he declares his goal to ensure that hospitals and other healthcare providers that offer hormones or surgery to aid in transitioning individuals would no longer receive federal funds, including Medicare and Medicaid.
Whether you support his beliefs or not, one thing that is tough to recognize is how extreme his policies will be, if passed. The dynamic of the U.S. in foreign and domestic relations will shift dramatically, causing upset nationally and internationally. He is a threat to the United States as we know it. His policies are extreme and harmful for many groups of people, and will affect everybody in this country, whether expected or unexpected. Because of these plans, and others that were not mentioned – such as his plans to eliminate the Department of Education – countless lives could be lost, valuable education and healthcare traditions, jobs and careers, and foreign relationships that we rely on for a functional place in society.
To boil it down to the basics, historically, when a president is impeached, trust is naturally and almost entirely lost. When this president is impeached twice, support is through the roof, and he is on track for yet another presidential term.
The first time that former President Trump was impeached was for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, back in 2019. In 2020, he was acquitted of all charges. The second time that he was impeached was after the Jan. 6 attack of the U.S. Capitol, for charges of “incitement of insurrection”, implying that he had encouraged the acts that occurred that day. However, he carried out the last days of his presidency without consequence.
In addition to these impeachment trials, Trump also faces criminal trials outside of his time as president. One of his trials is in direct relation to the events that ensued on Jan. 6.. He has already been charged in this trial. The grand jury approved an indictment and effectively charged him with four crimes related to the case. Another case took place in Georgia, in relation to his efforts to overturn his loss in the 2020 election. Because of lies about voter fraud, there was disagreement between Trump and his supporters and higher members of the Georgia government. Once again, he was indicted through a 98-page document containing 41 state-law felony charges. The next case is in regards to extremely sensitive classified documents that were stolen and stored in his Mar-A-Lago estate in Florida. This case, in which Trump has also been indicted, includes 38 felony counts. The final case is related to “hush money” paid to Stormy Daniels, finances of which were falsely claimed as business expenses. In this case, he has been indicted and faces a trial for 34 felony counts. All these cases have not made it past the indictment stage, but most will be visited in the coming years.
Not only is he now in the phase of trial for multiple charges, but he has made a mockery of professionals testifying or prosecuting against him in court. He has flung insults and inappropriate jokes during court proceedings. This is Trump making a joke out of legal proceedings. Whether he is guilty or not, he has made a mockery of the law, legal officials, and legal proceedings. He does not take seriously the very system he will, to some level, oversee, should he assume the position of president.
The fact that he will be in multiple trials during his presidential race is outright concerning. In theory, he could be found guilty of all these felonies. At that point, we are pushing to put a felon in charge of this country.
What does the Iowa Caucus have to do with this? In short, everything. Ron DeSantis, Trump’s biggest Republican competition – as evident by his second place ranking in the vote – dropped out of the race, endorsing Trump. This means that those who were planning on voting for DeSantis, or did vote for him in this caucus, are most likely to shift their vote to Trump. Though it is not a perfect translation for actual election results, it does not imply great outcomes for those in opposition of Trump.
That said, Nikki Haley, at the time of this article, is still in the race, although she is not a strong candidate as the Iowa Caucus implied, as she ended the polls with only 19.1% of votes. This pales in comparison to Trump’s 51.0%. Though DeSantis’s votes could be distributed with some going towards her, it does not seem likely, given how he placed his endorsement. It is likely, at this time, that Trump will be chosen as the Republican Party’s candidate.
Looking back through history, there has rarely been a time where the Republican party or the Democratic party has not chosen the current president as their candidate, given the condition that the current president has interest in running again. In this situation, current President Biden has indicated and shown his intention of running again, with no indication that he may back out. Though Democrats that are not in power tend to disagree with Biden and his policies and actions, the Democratic Party is about politics, not ethics. They will likely follow the precedent set before by many presidents and their respective parties and choose to endorse President Biden.
If both situations occur, we will see a rematch. In the 2020 election, the polls reported attendance of magnitudes never seen before. If there is a rematch between these two men, we can only expect a higher attendance. I personally do not see a single good outcome from this match-up. There is no way to predict how the vote will fall, who will be hurt or lie in the process, and what will come victim to the fight between these two heavily armed individuals, with support and a presidential term backing them both up. No matter the outcome, I foresee this election being one that will be studied for years.
I will not be able to conclude my article without saying this. No matter the results of these primaries or the election itself, I will never support former President Donald J. Trump because of his alleged crimes, countless offenses against his family, and countless citizens of the country that he swore an oath to protect.
I have friends and family who will be directly affected by many of his plans for policies, and my life as I know it would be upset and suffer a dramatic shift of epic proportions. I am not the only one. Countless citizens of the United States of America, and in this college alone will be directly affected by the policies he intends to pass. I implore you now, do not allow this criminal to take his seat as President of the United States of America. Do not vote for this man, and do not support his intended harm on the very citizens he is supposed to care deeply for. This is not who we want to represent our country.
