Opinion: giving Trump second chances

The last two weeks has been a whirlwind discussion about the ground breaking decision millions of Americans made to elect a self-claimed billionaire to presidential office. Since then, news outlets that previously criticized Trump based on his misogynistic, racist and xenophobic rhetoric, have been calling for Americans to give him a second chance, to call for an opportunity for him to redeem himself. Trump has endlessly been given second chances, so much so that he has forgotten entirely what a consequence is. This is why we need to stop giving him chances and start holding him accountable for his rhetoric and actions.

News media played Trump on a loop, allowing his speeches to be run in their entirety. Giving him such free press  allowed for his message of hate to resonate among millions of Americans’ homes.  The media covered him almost exclusively from the beginning. Instead of demonizing his rhetoric, they made him a joke, although not everyone was laughing. Some were relating and believing in his words. They were blindly taking everything he said as fact and allowing himself to be his own source for information.

The list of Trump’s offenses, ones that we forgave, goes on for pages; mocking a disabled reporter, repeatedly threatening press companies for reporting on him, insulting a Muslim family of a fallen American solider, bragging about committing sexual assault.

As a country that was built on principles of equality, and for the last 100 years has pushed to make that true for everyone, we cannot allow one man to take us back to days when blatant discrimination was widespread and socially accepted. We do not have the luxury of believing that our government will do what is right anymore when it is being led by a man that has questioned basic constitutional right, such as the freedom of the press. This article here, under the policies that he has proposed (opening federal slander laws), could be removed by the federal government.

Some say that he will change once he comes into office, that he will understand the amount of responsibility that falls upon his shoulders and rise to the occasion. Myself and others have no faith in this theory.  He has repeatedly proved himself as incapable of change. Even under the spotlight of all news media, he  claimed statistics that weren’t checked, some close to impossible. This shows a degree of disregard for both the intelligence of Americans and the responsibility of a presidential candidate.

So what evidence do we have the points to him changing his ways?

None. His first decisions, choosing cabinet members, has already set the table for the rest of his presidency. Choosing an editor of a white nationalist ‘news’ outlet, Steve Bannon, a man who has written and approved articles with racist, anti-Semitic, and completely untrue content could be the new chief strategist for the White House.

This alone should put a knife in any theory that Trump will ever change.

Now more than ever before, American citizens have to stay involved and aware. Without checking his actions, without watching the actions of our legislatures, our country could regress to a time when racism was commonplace and sexism was accepted.