Do we really want Trump to set the tone for the next four years?

27484886630_234db35e7cOne of the most important components of the presidency is to set the tone for the nation. Over the past few days, the DNC has largely been about love, unity, and inclusion, whereas the RNC served to stoke fear, anger, and divisiveness.

Our children are watching this election. Regardless of what you may think about Hillary, she is intelligent, empathetic, and diplomatic. She is inspiring and optimistic. She has consistently exhibited poise and strength.

Every single day, Donald Trump exhibits the very worst of human qualities. The GOP has given the bully a pulpit. What message does it send when half of the country wishes to reward such behavior — behavior which we wouldn’t tolerate from our own children — by elevating the bully to one of the most powerful positions in the world?

Trump wants to “Make America Great Again,” yet he disparages our military, invites a foreign adversaries to intervene in the electionmocks an American POW for getting captured, and calls women pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals.

As we know well, a president is limited in what he can accomplish without a supportive Congress. But the tone that a president sets has an effect on every aspect of American life — including the young impressionable minds of our media-immersed children — and this tone reverberates throughout the world.

Donald Trump is a troglodyte. He represents the very worst of America. To elect Trump is to tell millions of young people that it’s okay to hit people who disagree with us, that it’s okay to incite violence, to make fun of people with disabilities, to discriminate against people of other faiths and nationalities, to embrace ignorance and to reject science.

Think about what you are condoning when you pull the lever. No candidate is without flaws, but one is fatally flawed and would cause irreparable damage on many levels.

We need to remember that if we allow Trump to set the tone, we will also allow him to set a precedent for future elections and future leaders. We will be telling millions of children that if they consistently treat people like dirt, they may just become president one day.

 

photo credit: Donald Trump via photopin (license)

Eric Shepherd

About Eric Shepherd

Eric is a marketing professional working and living in Portland, ME. His writing on politics, science, and culture has appeared on NPR.com, Babble.com, and other national and regional outlets. Eric is also a public speaker on topics related to branding, social media, and cause marketing. He spent 10 years as a recording and touring musician. He has lived up and down the East Coast, but loves Portland the very most.