Donald Trump is a racist and a threat to the very fabric of our nation. At every turn, he seeks to divide, demean, and otherize. He simply cannot unite the United States of America like we should be.
Throughout his first term, he has regularly returned to the rallying cry of “Build the Wall,” in order to foment anti-immigrant fervor amongst his base. And he has repeatedly lied to his followers about how many miles of the wall have actually been built.
Trump appointed an Attorney General who renewed contracts with for-profit prisons, brought back mandatory minimum sentencing, and sought to lift federal oversight over cities with histories of systemic racism in their police departments.
He has sought to expel 700,000 DREAMERs from the only country they have ever known, and launched a cruel and arbitrary travel ban, blocking travelers from seven majority-Muslim countries (with nations where he has business interests notably absent from the list).
He referred to nations in Central America and Africa as “shithole countries,” applauded racist mobs in Charlottesville, and told four trailblazing women of color serving in Congress to go back where they came from (three of the four were born in the United States). It is no wonder Trump regularly receives praise for his policies from white supremacists and Neo-Nazis.
His family separation policy at the border will go down in history as one of America’s most shameful transgressions. He has destroyed families and permanently traumatized children. And as a result of his administration’s cruelty and incompetence, several children died while in custody of the United States Border Patrol during this period.
Today, in the wake of the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others at the hands of police, at this moment of racial reckoning, when an American president should be lifting us up and appealing to our better angels, instead Trump tears at old wounds and reawakens demons from our segregated past.
After all, when Trump responds to those calling out for racial justice with talk of “vicious dogs” or threats of “when the looting starts, the shooting starts,” when he spends his precious time glorifying Confederate generals—those whose sole mission was the preservation of slavery—one must ask, “Make America Great Again”? What period of time in our history is Trump actually wanting to take us back to?
America cannot afford to be torn apart by this president one minute longer.
Joe Biden will bring Americans of all colors, backgrounds, and creeds together so that we may heal. President Biden will work to root out systemic racism from our laws, our institutions, and our hearts. He will re-unite the United States of America.