by Jacob Nestle
Ever since Donald Trump announced his candidacy, he’s been saying crazy things. He’s his own worst enemy. And he’s running as the nominee for the Republican Party. He’s frequently the target of slurs; one title which is accurate is that he us hypocrite. Let’s explore some of Donald’s most blatant contradictions.
5. Immigration
This one’s at the top because it might be the most in-your-face. In the beginning there were the primaries, and Trump was only one of seventeen. What stood out to most people was his absolutely insane announcement speech (watch above at your own risk, if you haven’t already seen it). Within that single speech. he established that he was going to be the ‘tough on illegal immigration’ candidate. Not only that, he was able to force his primary opponents to the right and even support the idea of a wall. So what’s the problem?
He has denounced the visa program. That’s all well and good until you realized he made use of it himself. At least they weren’t illegal, right? Well…It doesn’t end there. Trump did, in fact, employ undocumented workers. Not for just any job, either. Undocumented Polish workers built Trump Tower: some 150 of them. Awkward.
4. Taxes
Closely tied to the last is the fact that Trump has basically admitted to paying hardly any taxes. I’m a libertarian, so I can respect that. Nothing wrong with avoiding a little theft, am I right? From that standard, Trump not paying taxes may be even a respectable thing. It would be if he was across the board with it.
But that’s not how Trump applies the standard to others, especially undocumented immigrants. He claims that illegal immigrants cost the government $113 billion in tax revenue each year (which is, of course, probably not accurate at all; even with all variables factored in, the math makes no sense). He claims that they get $4.2 billion in tax credits alone. That’s not even counting the accusation that they steal our jobs. (They don’t.)
But what Trump either doesn’t know or doesn’t care to mention is that as much as $11.64 billion is made in revenue from undocumented immigrants.
Long story short: the people Trump derides for not paying taxes pay more taxes than he does.
3. Clinton Foundation
The weaknesses, excesses, and downright problems of Hillary Clinton are not the subject of this list. However, it should go without saying that there is a clear conflict of interest for her with her Clinton Foundation, which is a nonprofit. It also occasionally gets money from dubious foreign governments. This is a fact which Trump simply loves to point out. I understand; the Clinton Foundation is problematic.
So is the Trump Foundation, which donated its Democratic counterpart $100,000. Seriously. Isn’t that quite a conflict of interest? Now, again, it’s easy to claim that since this wasn’t literally Trump himself (and he hasn’t donated to it since 2008) he isn’t responsible for it. That’s patently ridiculous, because his campaign manager claimed his Foundation as proof of Trump’s charitable givings.
2. Charity
That leads to this next one. Donald Trump is, even according to low estimates, a man worth several billion dollars. He claims to be a charitable man. So why does he actually donate such a paltry amount of his own money to charity? He barely donated to his Foundation in the first place. All in all, Trump donated a meager $3.7 million to the foundation that bears his name. The WWE donated more.
Other billionaires are noticeably more generous. In 2008, which was the last year Trump even donated to his own Foundation, Bloomberg almost hit a quarter billion.
The Donald may claim to be a charitable man, but he’s not really. Just like the rich people in the story of the widow woman, he looks like he’s being generous just because he starts with more in the first place. I could donate a hundred dollars and be more generous than Donald Trump.
1. Sex
Here it is, ladies and gentlemen, and lovers of Liberty everywhere. The one you’ve all gotten sick hearing about the last 24 hours or, if you really think about it and paid attention to him for a long time, since he became a celebrity in the first place. It’s Donald Trump’s sex life.
Donald Trump was already fighting uphill against the embattled Clinton. The recently released tape may be the nail in his campaign’s coffin. While certainly not surprising, it is horrifying to find that such comments were made or, more disturbing, that Trump may have actually engaged in the behavior he describes. It wouldn’t be quite so bad if he wasn’t running as a Republican. What has the Republican Party attempted to stand for? ‘Sanctity of marriage.’ Trump was married when he made those comments or, possibly, did what he said. That’s not sanctity. Worse, he has consistently criticized Bill Clinton‘s sexual misconduct, but his comments imply similar actions to the former President’s.
The Republican Party is breaking itself in half trying to disavow the comments, either to disavow him entirely or to pretend like it’s not that bad. The Republican Party can’t afford to entirely alienate women, who have not historically voted for them anyway. In the next few weeks, it is possible there will be a dramatic shakeup in the party. It’ll be fun to watch… I hope.
I don’t see him coming back from this last one. If the GOP is smart, they’ll ditch him. If they’re blind and stupid, they might just stick with him. Let’s wait and see.