For several decades, the Republican Party has been doing everything it can to smear Hillary. Ever since she stood up for herself as a young First Lady and declared that baking cookies or hosting White House "teas" was not going to be her thing, she has been seen as a threat to conservative values and the male hegemony. Conservative activists have been working to impugn her ever since. For sure, it has not been a pleasant experience for Hillary but it has not kept her from winning election in her own right and plugging away on working for the American people.
Republicans have shown they are capable of making mountains out of molehills when it comes to Hillary. Some politicians have spent considerable time, energy and tax dollars making things up, in a desperate effort to try to get something to stick. We learned from House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy that the whole Benghazi investigation was created as a political attack, to try to sink Hillary's poll numbers. Yet, after numerous investigations, no wrong-doing was found. This is an example of many such instances of accusations trumped up by Republicans in the past.
Lately, Republicans have condemned Hillary for her use of her Blackberry to receive work emails while she served as Secretary of State, even though Collin Powell and Condaleesa Rice also did this. Okay, let's grant that Hillary used bad judgment when she opted to consolidate personal and work email so that she could access them on her Blackberry devise while serving as Secretary of State. It turns out, none of her work emails were actually hacked from that time and she was cleared of any wrong-doing except poor judgment by the FBI. Nevertheless, Republicans refuse to let this go, and have managed to get FBI Director James Comey to risk his career by claiming to be re-opening the review of this molehill just days before the election.
Fine. We know how that game works. Failing to indict or intimidate her, Republicans will spew negative headlines just to try to make people question her, especially on the eve of the election. They have, however, done more harm to their own cause than to Hillary. She's got the Democratic Party and many, many ethical Republicans are now supporting her. But look who holds the Republican nomination? That paragon of virtue: Donald Trump. So comparing Hillary’s mistake of trying to be efficient using email, let's review the character traits that make Republican voters so excited to elect Donald Trump.
A summary review of Donald Trump's most salient characteristics
A Boldfaced Liar Trump lies most of the time. He was rated as having fit in more untruths in 90 minutes than could be counted, by the non-partisan fact-checkers who have been called into play in a big way from the very beginning of Donald's appearance on the national stage. The nation's fact checkers have had to work overtime just to keep up with the lies being told by Donald. (See video below.)
A Bully Trump won the Republican primary by bullying the other candidates, calling them insulting and babyish names and making them appear foolish and weak, because they weren't prepared to respond to such childish personal attacks. Every last one of the Republican candidates that Donald insulted succumbed to him through sheer unpreparedness to deal with a person who uses bullying techniques on a national platform. He then proceeded to continue to bully anyone who he did not like throughout the campaign, including many female reporters and Republicans, like Ted Cruz, who stopped supporting him.
Hurls Lies and Insults Trump frequently insults the members of the Republican party, calling them "unbelievably stupid." He was interviewed years ago and indicated back then that he would run as a Republican because the Republicans he saw were "so stupid." He has continued calling them stupid to their faces. (Fortunately, for him, this doesn't seem to bother them very much.)
Mocks Disabled and the Dead, clearly has No Empathy Trump mocked a handicap reporter in front of the whole nation, wildly waving his hands and making distorted facial expressions like one might see an 8 year old doing to illicit jeers and, even after all of the widespread condemnation, never apologized to the reporter individually or to the country's disabled community. After the Democratic Convention, Trump attacked the Khan family, a Gold Star family which lost a son in the war, showed no respect for them, the pain of their lost son but instead tried to ignite xenophobic fear of the Khans by suggesting that they might have believed in Sharia Laws and then later claiming that he had also "sacrificed," by "building buildings" literally showing no concept of what sacrifice means.
Disrespectful to Women and Lies about it Trump calls women a wide range of disparaging, crude and disrespectful names, insults their looks, their faces, criticizes their weight, their eating habits and disparages their most private biological functions. He has never apologized for any of his comments. On top of all this, he lies and says "Nobody is more respectful towards women" when the truth is, nobody has been more disrespectful towards women. Trump attacked the former Ms. Universe for being overweight, calling her "Miss Piggy" and "Miss Housekeeping" to insult her because she was Latino, despite the fact that she was the winner of his pageant. The fact that Hillary called him on this behavior so upset Trump, he tweeted to his followers to urge them to watch fictional pornographic sex tapes at 3 am to try to besmirch Miss Universe's reputation—showing clearly just how much he disrespects women.
Admitted Sexual Assault Offender Trump was caught on video and audiotape bragging about how he assaults women and gets away with it because he is famous. Then, when this started to tank him in the polls, he tried to claim that he had never actually assaulted any women and that this was just "locker room talk." But when more than a dozen women came forward with personal stories of being assaulted by Trump (several with evidence from witnesses that they told at the time of the actual events), Trump accused them of lying and threatened to sue them for defamation.
An Accused Rapist Trump was formally accused of rape by his former wife, Ivana Trump, prior to their divorce. He was also accused of having savagely raped a 13-year old (with a witness who backed up her story) in a lawsuit filed months ago in federal court. This lawsuit was dropped within the last few days. Just prior to dropping the suit, the victim was on the verge of holding a press conference but then received threats. Ivana also opted to modify her rape claim in order to settle a legal case with Trump. Neither case has been adjudicated and may never be because of the fear of personal harm associated with going up against powerful men.
Hypocrite about Abortion Trump wants to deny women the right to control their bodies. He has taken the position that women should be punished for having abortions yet Trump himself has urged women he impregnated to get abortions.
Defrauds Charities Trump has engaged in charity fraud which included use of foundation funds to bribe the Florida DA, to keep her from joining the NY Attorney General's action against Trump University. The foundation has since been suspended by the New York Attorney General because it also used funds to purchase artwork (portraits of Trump) for Trump and to help Trump clear himself from a lawsuit.
Defrauds Students Trump launched Trump University with the idea of defrauding students by pretending to teach his real estate techniques, which the University failed to do. The University has now been sued in a class action for taking money from students but not giving them any education of value.
Defrauds Honest Business Associates Trump has been shown to have made deals and signed contracts with thousands of businesses who helped him build his hotels, casinos and other projects. Nevertheless, he routinely and strategically flouts decency and ethics and elects to reneg on validly fulfilled contracts after performance using the slimmest of excuses or no excuse to force the other side, usually a small business owner, to have to negotiate on their price terms. He promises to pay the bill at a discount and then he even declines to pay that. Eventually, beause he knows that no one wants to get into a legal battle with him, he usually forces the small business owner to settle at such a small fraction of the bill that it literally puts them out of business. But Donald shroudly forces them to sign a non-disclosure term about his lack of ethics, so that others don't know that he does this and each falls prey to his exploitation of the rules of business.
Disrespects the Court System Trump insulted the judge overseeing the Trump University lawsuit and claimed that the American-born judge was Mexican, and because of his heritage questioned his integrity to on the bench by accused him of not being impartial.
Hides Key Information from Voters for the Purpose of Deceiving Them Trump is the first president hiding information from the public about his business dealings—obviously because there is information there that could disclose information that would hurt him with voters.
Doesn't Pay His Share of Taxes It was disclosed, however, that Trump hasn't paid taxes for 20 years—probably because he has been deducting a billion dollar loss over that time—and yet Trump boasts that that makes him smart. When Hillary discussed her tax plan during the third debate and said that it would increase her taxes and Donald's, assuming that he doesn't also figure out a way around paying the taxes, he called her a "nasty woman."
A Russian Patsy Trump has shown that he is a patsy for flattery and has frequently repeated the fact that Putin has "said nice things" about him. He doesn't recognize that he is likely being played, and expresses open admiration for this dictator. He even compliments Vladimir Putin's brutality by calling him a "great leader" greater than Obama, and seems to support Putin's crack-down on civil liberties by calling for restrictions on the freedom of the press here in the U.S.
Probably Engaging in Treasonous Activity Trump has engaged in a range of secretive dealings with Russia, which he continues to deny. Trump initially employed Paul Manafort, a campaign manager known to have deep ties with Russia and was advising Ukraine's Pro-Russian leader for a period of time. During the Republican Convention, there was a suspicious change made to the Republican Party platform language regarding their position on the Ukraine, which no one took responsiblity for but which appeared to be the work of Manafort. Trump also mouths a key preference of Putin's, which is to reduce U.S. support of NATO. Nevertheless, revealed he was ignorant of the fact that Russia has seized the Crimea. Trump claims he has no ties to Russia at all and yet Trump's son claimed that a "disproportionate amount of Trump funding" comes from Russia. Computer scientists have recently traced a Trump server to a computer based in Russia, which has been conducting secretive communications with each other all during the campaign season. This server connection was immediately changed once inquiries were made about it. It is possible that some of what Trump doesn't want the American public to see is how much business he has been doing with Russia and possibly how much they are propping him up.
Spreads Xenophobia Trump has expounded the country's xenophobia by calling for a complete ban of Muslims entering the country. He does not have a plan for how to conduct this kind of ban without violating the rights of people under the Constitution.
Lies about his Past Statements and Actions Trump has repeated lied about whether he supported the Iraq War over and over when there is film of him saying he supported it. There are great videos of Trump saying one thing when interviewed in the past and another thing for this election. He also has said many things during the current election cycle that he flat out denies having said. Was he on drugs? Is he delusional? Or does he simply lie because he fully believes that people are too stupid to remember from one day to the next?
Proven to have Discriminated Against Minorities Trump and his father were sued on multiple occasions by the U.S. Government for racial profiling and housing discrimination, which implemented systemic controls to prevent apartments from being rented to minority families. Even after this illegal behavior was discovered and the Trump organization settled with the Government, the behavior continued, requiring multiple lawsuits. Trump incites racist divisions when he calls Mexicans "rapists" and black men "thugs."
Racist and possible Klansman Trump calls for national stop and frisk, specifically targeting black "thugs." He has not shown any support for the brutality of police against black men nor empathy for the issues of the inner cities. In fact, he has shown so much racism throughout his campaign, he was recently endorsed by the Klu Klux Klan as their man. He is likely to be a member of the KKK.
Would Allow the World to Fry from Climate Change Trump claims that he does not believe in climate change and claimed that global warming was a Chinese hoax. But nevertheless, Trump has applied for permits to build retaining walls because of climate change, to help protect some of his coastal properties. He also threatens to block the Paris COP from taking effect and to undue Obama's Clean Power Plan that addresses our need to reduce our use of dirty energy. Trump would have the U.S. restart coal plants that have closed because they are killing too many people with their dirty energy, lung disease, mining accidents and water-poisoning.
Horrible—maybe the worst—at Business Trump claims that he is an amazing businessman yet he got his start with a gift of $1 million from his father, which was increased to $14 million a few years after that and then he inherited as much as $200,000,000 when his father died—and still he stiffed many of the small businesses that did work for him and screwed most all of his investors by filing for bankruptcy 6 times. He is known to have claimed a loss of over a billion dollars in one year.
Clueless about Nuclear War Trump calls for broader nuclear proliferation, which goes against decades of U.S. policy and seems to think it would be fine if some nations nuke their enemies. Trump shows no understanding of what damage our nuclear arsenal can do and has repeatedly and stupidly asked "why can't we use our nukes if we have them?" as if this use of a weapon were part of a video game. At the same time, Trump calls for the morally corrupt actions of carpet-bombing of terrorist targets to deliberately include efforts to kill the families of terrorists, including women and children, whether they were involved or not.
Brutal and Unjust Trump made a big deal of stating his belief in the guilt of five men accused of sexual assault in NYC. He argued for the death penalty against these men, all of whom were minorities. When they were proven innocent, Trump didn't apologize, even in light of his own accusations of rape and sexual assault. Trump has furthermore called for more extreme forms of torture to be used, including the widely discredited "water-boarding" form of torture, even after it has been shown not to be effective form of defense.
Pathetically Arrogant and Egotistical Liar Who is Not Smart Trump goes 0-3 in the debates by showing scant knowledge of policies, facts, or world politics and by interrupting Hillary dozens of time, being rude and insulting and yet he claims to have won the debates. He was rated as having been untruthful in nearly 80% of what he said by non-partisan fact-checkers. He went into rants and rages throughout the debates that kept getting him into so much trouble that his campaignstaff was quitting right and left. Currently, he is under a strict prohibition by his remaining campaign staff against going "off script" so he reminds himself of while he dumbly reads his teleprompter.
Coward Who Insults Braver People than Himself Trump insults the American military, the military Generals and slights people, like Senator John McCain, who fought in the war and spent years as a prisoner of war, unlike Donald, himself, who was excused for some silly reason. But he claims he doesn’t like POWs because he only likes people who don’t get captured.
Criminal Conspirator Trump illegally deleted millions of emails involved in his casino scandal and, over hundreds of law suits, he has shown a record of illegally destroying email and documentary evidence of his actions and business activity. This has included lawsuits brought by the US Government, where he thwarted justice by refusing to turn over discovery documents and destroying evidence while using his teams of lawyers to perpetually make motions to delay and oppose each step of the legal process.
Defrauds U.S. Taxpayers Trump committed insurance fraud after the Florida hurricane, by claiming millions in damage that didn't actually happen. He then pocketed the proceeds that should have gone to actual hurricane victims and joked about it, and how smart that makes him.
The US's Most Unapologetic Racist, who admires Brutality, is Clueless about Real Leadership Trump praises Putin and Kim Jong Un as strong leaders but he can't even understand why Obama is such a powerful and beloved U.S. President. Trump's personal racist views meant that Trump attacked Obama for years by falsely claiming that he wasn't a U.S. citizen. Trump has never apologized nor shown any appreciation for the remarkable work done by Obama.
Lack of Policy Awareness, Attention to Details or Concern for Facts or Truth Trump is a businessman of sorts, who has spent his entire life figuring out how to exploit the rules to serve his best interest. He may have some passing knowledge about the Tax Code and about hiring employees and related matters, but the fact is that he has displayed no understanding of how government works, no appreciation for the skills of statesmanship and diplomacy that are required, nor any sense that these would apply to his future success as president. He ignores facts and truth and seems to act as if, once he is office, he will be able to do exactly as he pleases, much like his friend, Vladimir Putin.
Cheapskate and Betrayer of US Industry Trump claims that U.S. policy hurts American workers but yet for decades his businesses have purchased cheap Chinese steel, which hurts U.S. steel industry. He also uses illegal workers so he can avoid having to pay U.S. taxes.
Political Briber and Shameless Self-Promoter Trump has admitted to having donated to politicians for the specific purpose of using them to help him when he needs it. He shows that he has made a mockery of our political system and that he has no moral compass, ethics or even compulsions about acknowledging that he has bribed politicians to get what he wants. He is clearly using the presidential campaign to promote his name, his brand and possibly his next money-making gig, which is likely to be Trump TV.
Bankrupt, Not a Billionaire Trump claims to be a billionaire but he hasn't actually shown any proof of this. In contrast, his properties are generally so badly managed, that they go bankrupt in very high percentage of the time, with Trump Canada being only the most recent example. Furthermore, he's spent a lifetime accruing glitzy personal estates, his life-style is so expensive that he is probably skirting the edge of personal bankruptcy, which is why he refuses to show his tax returns. It may also explain why he uses foundation money inappropriately and possibly why so many suspect that he is dependent on Russian oligarchs to keep him and his assets afloat. We don’t really know of course, because he’s refused to come clean with the American people.
Self-Enrichment is All Donald Cares About Donald has not donated to charity, is not known for his largess to any cause, be it a school, the arts, a hospital, disease research or simply helping the needy. That he never gives his money to worthy causes may be because he actually doesn't care—or because he doesn't have the money. Whether he has the money or not, Donald cares about himself and his lifestyle, not even his own kids (he is known not to have spent any time raising them). Now, he cares only whether they can be of use to him. He doesn't seem to love his wife—although he clearly loves showing her off—but he has a history of both cheating and quickly replacing a wife as soon as it is convenient for him. (In the process, he might just rip out her hair, if he is angry at her, or violently rape her, as he was accused of doing by Ivana).
Hidden motives There is a compelling case to be made that Donald is out solely for himself. While it is a stretch to think that Donald cares about the U.S., it is not entirely clear how Donald expects to support his lavish lifestyle on the meager salary of a U.S. president. The fact is, Donald can't actually afford to be president. He is constantly hustling—including creating such scams as Trump University and acting as a reality TV star for The Apprentice—for a buck and to build his brand. Donald must have a plan for how serving as President would enrich him and given his thinking about NATO and the “pay to play" mentality that he espouses, it seems possible that a reason he is running is because he has some “pay to play” scheme brewing for being able to make executive office decisions. The problem is, we really have no idea what he is actually up to. Even his tax returns, were he to disclose them, which he won’t, would probably not provide any clues about his plans. We just have suspicions.
Friendless Has anyone heard of Donald having friends besides for being Putin’s penpal? He seems to hate almost everyone in US and has kind words for very few people. I certainly have not heard about him having any real friends, although he has lots of paid staff. Even his siblings did not attend the Republican convention to show their support — a likely testament to differences with them over his father’s inheritance. The only people who vouched for Donald were members of his nuclear family, who are all dependent upon him for their daily bread.
No Sense of Humor Trump is the only person to ever get boo-ed at the Al Smith Charity dinner. He seems to have no sense of humor at all. His funniest remark of the evening came at the expense of his wife, Melania. He never laughed during any of the debates. He is a pessimist with the darkest, most negative views of the American people, the U.S. Government, the military, U.S. Business, International trade, women, minorities and the rest of the world. Throughout this campaign, we almost never see him smiling, let alone laughing. It would be a grim era indeed, if Trump were elected to the highest office in the land.
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Have I left off anything critical? Have I characterized some aspect inaccurately? Let me know as I think it is worthwhile to have a comprehensive list of exactly what we’d be getting if Donald is elected.