The Trump Years
Four years.
For four years, America had to endure the most inept, ineffective, and inarticulate man to ever occupy the Oval Office.
It shouldn't have surprised any of us. After all, we knew exactly who Donald Trump was because he told us. We knew how he felt about immigrants when he called them "drug dealers, criminals, and rapists." We knew how he felt about women when he bragged about sexually assaulting them. We knew how we felt about women's reproductive freedoms when he said that there should be some form of punishment for doctors who perform abortions. We knew that he would belittle the press when he openly mocked disabled journalists. We knew that he would attack war heroes and Gold Star families. While there was hope that he would surround himself with those who would keep his worst impulses in check, those hopes quickly diminished when he brought on the likes of unqualified goons Stephen Miller, Mike Flynn, and Jeff Sessions to his administration. His press secretary went off the rails about the size of his inauguration crowd during his very first daily briefing. Any hopes that this would somehow be a "normal" presidency quickly evaporated within the first two months days as Trump's first major policy act was to ban travelers from 7 majority-Muslim countries from entry into the United States. This half-baked discriminatory policy led to mass confusion that would have been even worse had an army of immigration lawyers and volunteers not stepped in to help sort out the mess that Donald Trump was more than happy to create.
In the summer of 2017, Trump set his eyes on Obama's crowning achievement: Obamacare. With majorities in both the House and Senate, it seemed inevitable that Republicans would be able to do away with the life-saving opportunity for 20 million Americans with no viable replacement plan in sight. By trying to lessen the blow by using the euphemism "skinny repeal," House Republicans passed a bill that quickly moved to the Senate. With a two-vote majority, Republicans simply needed to hold ranks and Obamacare would be history. When it became evident that Senators Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins would vote no alongside all 48 Democrats and independents, the Republicans sped up the process hoping that Democrats wouldn't have enough time to convince swing voters like Arizona's Jeff Flake to cave. In the wee hours of July 28 with the vast majority of Americans asleep and those on the West Coast sleepily clinging to social media for updates, it was John McCain of all people to stand up and shoot down the Republican plan to strip away healthcare from 20 million Americans. Crisis, at least for the moment, was temporarily avoided.
But while health care was momentarily saved, the fact remained that Republicans still controlled the legislative and executive branches of government. So it should have come as so surprise that just before Christmas of 2017 the House and Senate passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act for the wealthiest Americans. Like everything associated with trickle-down economic policy, Republicans promised that this latest round of tax cuts would have a positive impact on growing the middle class. Of course, like the previous 40 years of this exact same policy, not only did these types of tax cuts not work, but they also were a key factor in the Trump Administration adding over $4 trillion to the country's debt. As with the previous round of Republican tax cuts during the W. Bush Administration, the rich got richer and the middle class got the shaft, keeping in line with the overarching Republican narrative of "I've got mine, it's your fault for not getting yours" for generations to come.
The year 2018 saw a new low on the domestic front with Trump's immigration policies coming to light. Led by Stephen "Nosferatu" Miller, the Trump Administration created a family separation policy that ripped away children from their parents as they presented themselves for asylum at the USA border. Done to deter migrant families from coming here, this inhumane policy separated over 5,500 children from their parents by placing them in separate facilities, later observed to be in cages by journalists who witnessed them first-hand. This was the first internment since World War II and the fact that it was done to asylees, who have a legal right to enter the country and seek asylum, made it even worse. While public pressure eventually convinced the administration to back down, there was irreparable damage done to these children and families as there were nearly 1,000 children who were never able to become reunited with their parents, despite the Biden Administration's best efforts to do so. This was state-sponsored kidnapping and should be seen as one of the darkest chapters in American history due largely to Trump's abhorrent racism and those who gave into his wretched impulses.
And yet, there was more.
Having his own domestic xenophobic plans set back, Trump then turned his eye to his fellow strongmen dictators, for whom he had an unhealthy affinity. In July of 2018, there was the infamous Helsinki press conference where Trump kowtowed to Vladimir Putin for all the world to see. Long suspected of having been a Russian asset, Trump did himself absolutely zero favors by siding with a foreign dictator over his own intelligence agencies. Over a year later, Trump again caved to a foreign dictator in Syria Bashar Al-Assad by withdrawing American forces from the region, essentially leaving our Kurdish allies to slaughter. This abrupt and foolhardy move made Vladimir Putin happy as it opened the door for Russia to the Middle East. Lastly, we should not forget the absolute chaos that Trump created by assassinating Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad in early January 2019. This act of war was immediately followed by Iran launching ballistic missiles at two American bases in Iraq as retaliation. For one week, all of us were glued to our phones knowing that Trump's short temper and desire to be "the man" may have very well set us on the course for World War III. While that didn't happen, Trump's brashness had his administration's subsequent inability to wrangle him in was becoming more concerning by the day.
That concern ultimately manifested itself in the penultimate moment of Trump's presidency: his response to the COVID-19 global pandemic. Having Trump at the helm of government during a time of crisis was for tens of millions of us our greatest fear. What we saw throughout 2020 was the epitome of someone who lied on their resume to get the job. We saw Trump first deny the severity of the problem. We then saw him sideline those who knew more than him for fear of making him look bad. We later saw Trump drunk with power as he tried to play favorites and ask for loyalty to distribute limited resources. When Trump himself was diagnosed with COVID in October, he used his recovery not to educate the American people but to prop himself up as a strongman by going for a completely unnecessary and dangerous car ride with the Secret Service members in full protective gear to assuage his ego. Upon his return to the White House the country did not see Trump as a conquering hero but rather as an egotistical madman who likely would have died had he not had access to the best doctors and most advanced treatments of the day.
After this type of track record, it should have been no surprise that the American people fully rejected Donald Trump in November 2020. Yet Trump himself was in pure disbelief. This manchild who had never lost, or admitted to have lost, anything in his life was now asked to leave the White House and return to public life. He simply couldn't do it. He could not, in good conscience, admit that he was a loser. So he rounded up the most corrupt conservative lawyers he could find and engaged in a two-month campaign designed to undermine the free and fair election process that was a hallmark of American democracy. Trump embraced The Big Lie because he knew of no other way. He wanted what Vladimir Putin had: the ability to serve in a role where there were zero repercussions for your actions. Trump wanted to continue wielding his influence to profit from foreign governments and businesses. He wanted to continue to house and profit off of Secret Service men and women and Mar-a-Lago each time he traveled there. He wanted the adoration of his fans each and every time he spoke to his people. Donald Trump was a man so delusional that he couldn't imagine that anybody, never mind 81 million Americans, didn't want him in charge.
Remember all this these next 11 months. Because this was our reality for 4 terrifying years. Remember how you felt going to bed each and every night during the Trump Administration. Remember how you felt knowing that you were one Senate vote away from losing your healthcare. Remember how you felt for your immigrant and LGBT friends. Remember how you felt during those first few months of the pandemic when everything shut down and you had no idea whether it was safe to leave your home. Remember how you felt on January 6th when a mob of Trump supporters attacked the United States Capitol with the intent of overturning our free and fair election. And remember all the other micro-aggressions that occurred as a result of the Trump Administration from their work to try to end the DREAM Act to Melania destroying the Rose Garden to the fact that Donald Trump put 3 unworthy and undeserving Supreme Court justices on the bench for life. This was our reality for 4 years and it was a reality of pain, suffering, and hurt.
The media will try to gaslight you from now until the election. Do not let them. When they ask if your life is better now than it was 4 years ago, think back to what life was actually like 4 years ago in November of 2020 when we were amid both a global pandemic and the aftermath of a planned insurrection. Because that is your comparison point. Not the price of eggs or gas or milk. Not the "looming" recession which has been looming for 3+ years. But how you actually felt that November. How scared you were of another 4 years of Donald Trump at the helm. How you knew that a second Trump presidency might be the end of our republic as we knew it. That, right there, is what we all need to have as a frame of reference when anyone asks us if we are better off now under Biden than we were under Trump.
Because when you think about it rationally, the answer is quite simple.
In the summer of 2017, Trump set his eyes on Obama's crowning achievement: Obamacare. With majorities in both the House and Senate, it seemed inevitable that Republicans would be able to do away with the life-saving opportunity for 20 million Americans with no viable replacement plan in sight. By trying to lessen the blow by using the euphemism "skinny repeal," House Republicans passed a bill that quickly moved to the Senate. With a two-vote majority, Republicans simply needed to hold ranks and Obamacare would be history. When it became evident that Senators Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins would vote no alongside all 48 Democrats and independents, the Republicans sped up the process hoping that Democrats wouldn't have enough time to convince swing voters like Arizona's Jeff Flake to cave. In the wee hours of July 28 with the vast majority of Americans asleep and those on the West Coast sleepily clinging to social media for updates, it was John McCain of all people to stand up and shoot down the Republican plan to strip away healthcare from 20 million Americans. Crisis, at least for the moment, was temporarily avoided.
But while health care was momentarily saved, the fact remained that Republicans still controlled the legislative and executive branches of government. So it should have come as so surprise that just before Christmas of 2017 the House and Senate passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act for the wealthiest Americans. Like everything associated with trickle-down economic policy, Republicans promised that this latest round of tax cuts would have a positive impact on growing the middle class. Of course, like the previous 40 years of this exact same policy, not only did these types of tax cuts not work, but they also were a key factor in the Trump Administration adding over $4 trillion to the country's debt. As with the previous round of Republican tax cuts during the W. Bush Administration, the rich got richer and the middle class got the shaft, keeping in line with the overarching Republican narrative of "I've got mine, it's your fault for not getting yours" for generations to come.
The year 2018 saw a new low on the domestic front with Trump's immigration policies coming to light. Led by Stephen "Nosferatu" Miller, the Trump Administration created a family separation policy that ripped away children from their parents as they presented themselves for asylum at the USA border. Done to deter migrant families from coming here, this inhumane policy separated over 5,500 children from their parents by placing them in separate facilities, later observed to be in cages by journalists who witnessed them first-hand. This was the first internment since World War II and the fact that it was done to asylees, who have a legal right to enter the country and seek asylum, made it even worse. While public pressure eventually convinced the administration to back down, there was irreparable damage done to these children and families as there were nearly 1,000 children who were never able to become reunited with their parents, despite the Biden Administration's best efforts to do so. This was state-sponsored kidnapping and should be seen as one of the darkest chapters in American history due largely to Trump's abhorrent racism and those who gave into his wretched impulses.
And yet, there was more.
Having his own domestic xenophobic plans set back, Trump then turned his eye to his fellow strongmen dictators, for whom he had an unhealthy affinity. In July of 2018, there was the infamous Helsinki press conference where Trump kowtowed to Vladimir Putin for all the world to see. Long suspected of having been a Russian asset, Trump did himself absolutely zero favors by siding with a foreign dictator over his own intelligence agencies. Over a year later, Trump again caved to a foreign dictator in Syria Bashar Al-Assad by withdrawing American forces from the region, essentially leaving our Kurdish allies to slaughter. This abrupt and foolhardy move made Vladimir Putin happy as it opened the door for Russia to the Middle East. Lastly, we should not forget the absolute chaos that Trump created by assassinating Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad in early January 2019. This act of war was immediately followed by Iran launching ballistic missiles at two American bases in Iraq as retaliation. For one week, all of us were glued to our phones knowing that Trump's short temper and desire to be "the man" may have very well set us on the course for World War III. While that didn't happen, Trump's brashness had his administration's subsequent inability to wrangle him in was becoming more concerning by the day.
That concern ultimately manifested itself in the penultimate moment of Trump's presidency: his response to the COVID-19 global pandemic. Having Trump at the helm of government during a time of crisis was for tens of millions of us our greatest fear. What we saw throughout 2020 was the epitome of someone who lied on their resume to get the job. We saw Trump first deny the severity of the problem. We then saw him sideline those who knew more than him for fear of making him look bad. We later saw Trump drunk with power as he tried to play favorites and ask for loyalty to distribute limited resources. When Trump himself was diagnosed with COVID in October, he used his recovery not to educate the American people but to prop himself up as a strongman by going for a completely unnecessary and dangerous car ride with the Secret Service members in full protective gear to assuage his ego. Upon his return to the White House the country did not see Trump as a conquering hero but rather as an egotistical madman who likely would have died had he not had access to the best doctors and most advanced treatments of the day.
After this type of track record, it should have been no surprise that the American people fully rejected Donald Trump in November 2020. Yet Trump himself was in pure disbelief. This manchild who had never lost, or admitted to have lost, anything in his life was now asked to leave the White House and return to public life. He simply couldn't do it. He could not, in good conscience, admit that he was a loser. So he rounded up the most corrupt conservative lawyers he could find and engaged in a two-month campaign designed to undermine the free and fair election process that was a hallmark of American democracy. Trump embraced The Big Lie because he knew of no other way. He wanted what Vladimir Putin had: the ability to serve in a role where there were zero repercussions for your actions. Trump wanted to continue wielding his influence to profit from foreign governments and businesses. He wanted to continue to house and profit off of Secret Service men and women and Mar-a-Lago each time he traveled there. He wanted the adoration of his fans each and every time he spoke to his people. Donald Trump was a man so delusional that he couldn't imagine that anybody, never mind 81 million Americans, didn't want him in charge.
Remember all this these next 11 months. Because this was our reality for 4 terrifying years. Remember how you felt going to bed each and every night during the Trump Administration. Remember how you felt knowing that you were one Senate vote away from losing your healthcare. Remember how you felt for your immigrant and LGBT friends. Remember how you felt during those first few months of the pandemic when everything shut down and you had no idea whether it was safe to leave your home. Remember how you felt on January 6th when a mob of Trump supporters attacked the United States Capitol with the intent of overturning our free and fair election. And remember all the other micro-aggressions that occurred as a result of the Trump Administration from their work to try to end the DREAM Act to Melania destroying the Rose Garden to the fact that Donald Trump put 3 unworthy and undeserving Supreme Court justices on the bench for life. This was our reality for 4 years and it was a reality of pain, suffering, and hurt.
The media will try to gaslight you from now until the election. Do not let them. When they ask if your life is better now than it was 4 years ago, think back to what life was actually like 4 years ago in November of 2020 when we were amid both a global pandemic and the aftermath of a planned insurrection. Because that is your comparison point. Not the price of eggs or gas or milk. Not the "looming" recession which has been looming for 3+ years. But how you actually felt that November. How scared you were of another 4 years of Donald Trump at the helm. How you knew that a second Trump presidency might be the end of our republic as we knew it. That, right there, is what we all need to have as a frame of reference when anyone asks us if we are better off now under Biden than we were under Trump.
Because when you think about it rationally, the answer is quite simple.
***
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