By: Hunter Ding
Donald Trump did many controversial things during his administration. He tried to build a giant wall between America and Mexico, incited a massive revolt after Joe Biden was elected in 2020, and invented a new branch of neo-fascism known as Trumpism. And, of course, he’s facing federal charges for mishandling important top-secret government files. Accused of those crimes, he faces a tribunal. However, he has already made a bid for the presidency and is receiving an abundance of support. And, if fate dictates that he is elected, the first president burdened with two federal charges would become the 47th U.S. president.
Considering Trump’s past behavior, my stance is clear: Donald Trump should not run for president.
As the U.S. president, Trump had access to many classified documents that are supposed to remain…classified. In 2020, he lost the presidential race. After ranting a bit on Twitter, riling up his followers, and leading a protest against the White House, he took many of those files with him to his Florida estate. These files included information on nuclear weapons, military capabilities of the U.S. and other countries, and other extremely crucial information that, if discovered, would jeopardize homeland security. He tried to resist the repossession of those documents by government officials and suggested to his lawyer that they be destroyed. In this reckless action, he put national security in immense peril. He has evidence against him as well, including documentation, witness testimonies, photographs, and his own lawyer’s evidence. But, Trump still has much support from the public and, despite the surging evidence against him, there would be many outlets for him to avoid conviction. Even if he is found guilty, he could still possibly become the president.
Trump was already president as of 2016. And yes, the Trump administration did have good in it–supposedly a lot, as trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov would tell you. Unemployment of minorities was at an all-time low, there was a huge economic explosion, and record stock market numbers were hit. But he took a completely inapt approach to racial disparities and COVID-19. He pardoned war criminals that massacred innocent Iraqis, and brutally suppressed a peaceful protest by African Americans He opposed vaccination, hesitated on embracing masks, and failed to impose a Covid travel ban, costing many lives.
The things he did during his reign were bad enough, but when he was informed that he suffered defeat during the subsequent election, he complained about a rigged election, incited his followers, and, at last, led a march on the U.S. capital and told them via twitter, too late, to be peaceful. When that tweet came, the damage was already done. They stormed, pillaged, and spilled blood in the capitol. What stands as a symbol of democracy and a ward against dictatorship, so carelessly spoiled.
He faces charges of treason, encouragement of revolt, and conspiring to defraud the United States. And, with those crimes hanging on his shoulders, he decided to make another mess. The documents that he purloined have vital information. “The most important secrets that the United States has,” Paul Quirk, a specialist in U.S. politics, told CBC Kids News. The worst part was that his main driving force was spite and vengeance. This wasn’t done out of just thoughtlessness. His anger at Joe Biden, Mike Pence, and Congress can’t be condemned, exactly. He lost an election, and though it is unreasonable to blame everyone, his bitterness is righteous. But the point of a president is to lead. Lead the people through confusing times, not let bias and anger get in the way of your duty. But he didn’t care about how it would affect the nation when he got his hands on those documents.
There’s nothing in the Constitution preventing a man charged with such crimes of become president, but what righteous human being would put our country in the hands of a man that would tear America apart for petty revenge and spite? Would we learn our lesson from the first time, or sanctimoniously gift-wrap the country once again and give it to him as something he’ll leave to collect dust in the garage? He tried to overturn an election, and when it failed, the government. Does it not undermine America and everything it stands for: liberty, justice, and equality? The Founding Fathers started a revolution against a global superpower and secured independence with seven years of grueling fighting , only for, so many years later, a dictatorship to be set up in the heart of what stands for freedom and free choice.
Donald Trump is facing thirty-seven criminal counts (The New York Times). A law-abiding citizen should not even face one criminal count. An immaculate record is needed to even step foot in the White House. How could you send someone who we know has attempted to overthrow the government and nearly ruin America to walk straight into the Oval Office with a gift-wrapped country sitting on the desk?