The case for re-electing Trump

Whether you agree with Keith Olbermann calling Trump “a terrorist,” or believe he is the best President in modern history, hardly anything new or unique can be said about this man and his administration. Supporting Donald Trump’s re-election is casting support for the continuation of economic nationalist policies, as well as the almost unconditional rejection of Neoliberalism and Washington’s established political class. 

Described best by Steve Bannon as “an imperfect instrument,” whatever Trump lacks in traditional political eloquence is made up through an undying sense of patriotism, unapologetic opposition to radical Progressivism and commendable levels of tremendous energy. This President is well-deserving of criticism, but when comparing the records, the Obama administration has been at least equally, if not significantly more damaging in certain areas.

By 2016, the same administration would have deported more than 2 million people including a record-breaking “438,421 unauthorized immigrants in fiscal year 2013.” Obama’s administration also expanded the war in the Middle East, as the President ordered over 542 drone strikes which according to the Council on Foreign Relations, killed more than an estimated “3,797 people including 324 civilians.” 

President Trump hasn’t deported anywhere near as many undocumented immigrants as his predecessor. He also hasn’t used the D.O.J. or Espionage Act against journalists, nor has he expanded the war in the Middle East. Growing levels of support for the President’s re-election is shown in the Latino and Hispanic-American communities, even though the man has been labeled as “racist” and “xenophobic.”

Trump’s historic criminal justice bill from 2018, the First Step Act “enacted reforms that make our justice system fairer and help former inmates return to society,” and also “addressed inequities in sentencing laws that disproportionately harmed Black Americans and reformed mandatory minimums that created unfair outcomes,” according to the New York Times. 

Over 90% of those benefiting from retroactive sentencing reductions in the First Step Act are Black Americans.” In addition, the administration also increased funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), signed legislation forgiving Hurricane Katrina debt, which threatened the same HBCUs, achieved the lowest poverty rates for African-American and Hispanic-American since the country started collecting data, and signed three separate bills benefitting Native people.

Despite the historic amount of calls for social reform, the Democratic Party has ignored the American voter yet again and nominated an establishment career politician as the antidote to President Trump. On May 14, 1992, Delaware Senator Joe Biden spoke about his proposed bill on the Senate floor claiming it would “do everything but hang people for jaywalking.” 

Later signed into law by President Clinton, the 1994 Crime Bill resulted in the following decade’s 20% increase in the nation’s number of correctional facilities and the national incarcerated population by 40%. The legislation was known for incentivizing profit-driven prisons and is responsible for the 47% rise in prisoners held in private prisons from 2000 to 2016. Years later Biden would be made chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and would eventually rally Democratic officials to join him in supporting President Bush’s invasion of Iraq. Not to mention, he is shown alongside President Obama during the administration’s biggest blunders. 

According to The Atlantic, Kamala Harris’ time as San Francisco’s DA is summarized by, “the overall felony-conviction in San Francisco rose from 52 percent in 2003, to 67 percent under Harris – the highest seen in a decade.” The rate of drug-related prosecutions skyrocketed during same window of time from “56 percent in 2003 to 74 percent in 2006.” The record doesn’t at all reflect the woke, fun-loving, she has sold herself as on the campaign trail. Later made California’s Attorney General, Harris vehemently argued for longer prison sentences, more criminal justice involvement in minority communities and even larger bail requirements, according to Business Insider. 

Joe Biden’s progressive tax strategy coupled with a $2 billion plan to fight climate change is likely to prove detrimental for the average American, who his campaign promises to fight for. The former Vice President and Harris have danced around key issues regarding the expansion of the Supreme Court, their stance on fracking, plan for economic recovery and more. Not to mention, there is a clear matter of concern when it comes to Biden’s mental health. 

When it comes to Trump, the American people know more or less how he is going to act and given the promising results from the administration pre-COVID, there’s valid reason to let the experiment run its course. Trump’s re-election would commence the nation’s four-year journey towards lower taxes, economic growth, rebuilding a crippled infrastructure, job creation, total withdrawal from the Middle East and above all, dismantling a well-funded, power-hungry political establishment.