Maggie John
When President Biden won the 2020 election, it felt like a step in the right direction. I can remember the moment we found out that Donald Trump would not be returning for a consecutive term. It felt as though the world had been holding their breath, and finally everyone could exhale again. Although Biden is by no means perfect, he was arguably the best of a bad bunch. After four years of hatred, there was finally hope on the horizon.
Following Trump’s clownish handling of Covid-19, his hateful attitude towards race, and his cruel approach to immigration, amongst other things, he became the only President to have ever been impeached twice.
Trump 2.0
Despite his previous impeachment, he has decided to give Presidency another go. Whatever the negative version of the gift which keeps on giving is, that’s what Trump is providing us with in running for election once more.
“The fact that Trump was impeached twice during his Presidency was – somehow – just the tip of the iceberg in highlighting his incompetency”
It’s terrifying that someone who spouted such hatred during his former Presidency, and who last week invited one of America’s most notorious far-right extremists for dinner, is once again in the running. Trump’s announcement begs the question: when will enough be enough?
What happened during Trump’s Presidency?
The fact that Trump was impeached twice during his Presidency was – somehow – just the tip of the iceberg in highlighting his incompetency (arguably not a strong enough word).
Trump was first impeached in 2019 for his “abuse of power and obstruction of justice” and impeached for the second time in 2021 after encouraging his supporters to storm the U.S Capitol building, an act which left “five people dead”.
Aside from his impeachment, Trump’s Presidency was troubling, to say the very least.
Racial Violence
“his efforts to divide the country were far more successful than his efforts to unite it.”
Firstly, his complete failure to sufficiently deal with race-related issues, and in fact fan the flames of violence, was horrifying. Following a “deadly neo-Nazi rally” in Charlottesville, Virginia, Trump refused to condemn the violent actions of those responsible, arguing that “you had some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people”.
Trump failed to step up to the mark repeatedly when it came to responding to racial violence, following the death of George Floyd, for instance. He continued to sustain a “racist rhetoric” throughout his time in office, and his efforts to divide the country were far more successful than his efforts to unite it.
Trump and Covid-19
Furthermore, Trump arguably completely failed the nation during the Covid-19 pandemic, through “conflicting, misleading and false statements”. On 17 July 2020, he told Fox News the virus was “fading away” (ignorant and far from the truth), and later suggested a number of untested and dangerous Covid treatments, publicly questioning whether it would be possible to inject disinfectant as a possible cure.
In an incredibly damning statement, the Lancet Commission suggested that “40% of Covid-19-related deaths in the US” could have been prevented. When Trump left office, John Hopkins University had recorded “402,269 deaths”.
What has happened since Trump’s Presidency?
Since Trump left office, he has continued to speak and fuel hatred. He has been investigated by the FBI over his handling of “classified documents and presidential records” and, following numerous allegations against him, he has been sued for sexually assaulting writer E Jean Carroll in the 1990s, as the Adult Survivors Act came into effect.
With Trump’s potential running on the horizon once more, those of us who aren’t US based find ourselves desperately crossing our fingers and hoping that Trump’s second attempt at Presidency becomes little more than a ridiculous anecdote.
The potential of his re-election and what this says about the world we’re living in can seem dire at times, but we should remember there is a lot of love around, we just need to make sure we spread it.
Featured image courtesy of Natilyn Hicks via Unsplash. No changes were made to this image. Image license found here.
