Today, one of the most controversial figures in the entire world is Donald Trump. For awhile, Donald Trump was known for being an aggressive, wealthy businessman who was constantly offending people with his public comments and actions. Trump is now the center of attention in the United States because he is the front-runner for the Republican nomination for president.
In the past, Donald Trump has proven time and time again what an incredibly offensive and arrogant man he chooses to be. During his run for president, Trump has continued to show the country just how crazy he can be with numerous comments and political antiques that have left people stunned.
After the first GOP debate on August 6th, Trump had some crude things to say about Megyn Kelly, a political commentator and journalist for Fox News and the host for the first GOP debate. The day after the event, Trump commented, “She gets out and she starts asking me all sorts of ridiculous questions, … You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever. In my opinion, she was off base.”
A year ago, if you told people that Donald Trump would own the majority of the Republican vote for president, most people would call you crazy. Today, many people say that there is no way that Trump will win the election, even though he is about to win the Republican nomination. The reality is, there is a good possibility that Trump can end up winning the election. However, there is a good chance that his presidency would bring a great deal of turmoil and hardship on the United States. If elected president, Donald Trump will ruin America.
Before we dive into how Donald Trump is the worst choice for president, we should try to understand why Trump is in this promising situation of becoming the Republican presidential candidate. The main thing Trump was known for before he started running for president was suing people.
Trump would always threaten and tarnish people on social media but, whenever someone would say something slightly offensive about him, he would try to publicly humiliate the person by filing a lawsuit against them for slander. Throughout the presidential race, Trump has basically been doing the same thing but, against the other candidates; which, unfortunately, is politics.
The reason Trump has such a far lead in the presidential race is because he is a great politician. He would constantly take jabs at Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio but, whenever they would retaliate he would act like the victim and deny that he ever slandered anyone. People love watching Trump because he is entertaining and unpredictable; people want to see what he is going to do next. The only problem is, with all this attention, Trump ended up becoming a very popular candidate for the white, not-so-bright voters.
Whenever Trump promoters give their reasons as to why they love Trump, they always give vague reasons that make him a great politician but, no hard evidence or reasoning that would make him a great president. These voters say things like “He’s going to make America great again,” or “He’s a great businessman, he’ll run the country like he runs his business.”
Since Trump is so far ahead in the polls, he must share some attributes with past successful, American politicians. In 1987, David G. Winters, a Psychology professor at Wesleyan University, conducted a study on the appealing qualities of past U.S. presidents from Washington to Reagan. Winters found out that many of the past presidents have held the constant of being natural leaders with the ability to charm the American people with their unique, personal appeal and performance. To Winters, the charismatic leader has, “a certain quality of personality by virtue of which he is set apart from ordinary men and treated as endowed with supernatural, superhuman, or at least specifically exceptional powers or qualities.”
Even though Donald Trump is a horrible person, he is a natural leader. Trump has been making hard decisions his entire life. In 1971, he was given control of his father’s real estate company at the age of 25. Since then he’s been in charge of hundreds of business proposals, philanthropic endeavors, and entrepreneurial ventures that most leaders have never even been exposed to. These high-stress, high-stakes experiences have made Trump into the confident, “don’t hold back” cowboy he is today, and people seem to admire him for it.
Trump is a powerful leader and he draws a crowd pretty much everywhere he goes but, being a good leader doesn’t make you a good fit to be president. Many of the voters really have no idea what they’re talking about when they are voting for Trump; they simply admire the illusion of Trump as a confident and cunning politician. However, if Trump becomes president, we cannot change our decision once he swears into office once we realize he is a complete fraud.
Trump’s idea of a perfect America would be a world power with a strong military that fights its own battles and helps no other country. That idea is called Isolationism, the belief that it is in one’s best interest to take care of one’s own problems without worrying about anyone else’s problems.
Trump has gone on the record to say that he will isolate the United States by getting rid of their affiliation with treaties like NATO and NAFTA. Trump also wishes to stir the trade waters with countries like China and Mexico by threatening to cut off negotiations with the countries and start so called, “Trade Wars.” He wishes to take the sweatshops out of these countries and bring those factories to the United States. “I’ll take jobs back from China, I’ll take jobs back from Japan. The Hispanics are going to get those jobs, and they’re going to love Trump.” Donald Trump made these comments in July of 2015, during his trip to the U.S.-Mexican border.
This is incredibly offensive. Donald Trump believes just because he cuts ties with countries like Japan and China, that automatically makes room for jobs in America. The “jobs” Trump is referring to are jobs in sweatshops that pay their workers next to nothing, and Trump just assumes that these jobs will simply transfer over to the United States and members of the Hispanic community are so poor that they will just flock to these minimum wage jobs as soon as they get the chance.
Donald Trump has notoriously been known for being a bigot and a racist. Before and during his run for president, Donald Trump has demonstrated to the public that he is a racist. Donald Trump treats each racial group as a monolith. He treats each race as if they are in their own world where everyone in that race only acts according to their stereotypes. Instead of acknowledging that there’s as much variety among white people as there is among Muslims, Latinos, and black people, Trump puts each race into their own category.
Trump has had many opportunities to prove to the voters that he is not the prejudice chauvinist people think he is. The most prominent being the three times he danced around the question of whether or not he renounced the support of former KKK leader David Duke during a televised interview on CNN. Each time Trump was asked about white supremacy or David Duke, he neither confirmed nor denied any affiliation with David Duke or any white supremacy group.
Trump’s exact words were, “I don’t know anything about what you’re even talking about with white supremacy or white supremacists,” he said. “So I don’t know. I don’t know — did he endorse me, or what’s going on? Because I know nothing about David Duke; I know nothing about white supremacists.”
Trump knew he was lying but, he also didn’t want to deny anything that would come back to bite him if the public found out the truth. He did not want to look like a supporter of white supremacy but, he also wanted the white supremacist’s vote on Election Sunday. Apparently, Trump decided votes were more important than being associated with the KKK.
A major reason Donald Trump’s presidency will most likely harm the reputation of the United States is because Trump is a dangerous man. During his run for president, Donald Trump has said and done some pretty insane things. Even though Trump has changed many of his political views throughout the presidential race, he has stayed true to his beliefs on torture, war, and how to deal with outside threats.
Today, President Obama is firmly against torture but, Trump has made it clear that he wants to reinstate all forms of torture, especially waterboarding, and went on record to say he wants to implement “much worse forms of torture.” When talking about national security, Trump talked about how America looked weak because we didn’t torture our prisoners and he went on to say “We have to beat the savages.”
Apparently, Trump has big plans for the military; namely, making the military stronger and more aggressive towards hostile countries. Many military officials have spoken out about how they would not follow through with any of the wicked plots Trump has planned for the military. Trump responded by suggesting he would force the military to carry out his objectives regardless if they agreed with the plan or not.
When asked about North Korea, Trump said he would consider giving nukes to South Korea and Japan to fight their own battle with North Korea instead of having America get involved. This involves Trump’s whole isolationist movement that has the United States refusing to help any other countries in need; so instead, Trump just wants to give the victim country giant, dangerous weapons and have them deal with the situation on their own.
Aside from fully supporting torture and possibly giving other countries nukes, Trump publicly promoted a war crime on Fox News where he said in order to stop the terrorists, “We have to take out their families; We have to go after their wives and children.” If Barrack Obama, or someone we would expect more out of, said something like this on national television, it would be a huge deal, but it was Donald Trump who people expect to say something this insane.
If Donald Trump becomes President, he will ruin America in one way or another. Trump may start a war through offending a hostile country, using the military to carry out heinous war crimes, or by isolating the United States and leaving less powerful countries to fend for themselves. America cannot have a President who is a racist that doesn’t respect each race equally because America is the land of freedom and equality. If Donald Trump is elected President, we have no idea what he is going to do but, many signs point to bad things.
WRT 205/Spring 2016 Grading Rubric: Unit III NYTs Magazine
[1] How well does the title provocatively focus the reader’s attention, as well as the lede? Is it thoughtful, creative, clever? Does it lead the reader into the text and provide some insight into the issue?
I really tried to think of a title that would encompass the main point of my article as well as properly resembling a title one would see in the actual New York Times. The title draws the audience in because of how current the topic is, who the topic may affect, and the wit behind the title; using Trump’s slogan against him is pretty clever, if I do say so myself. Once a reader reads a witty title like this, about a character like Donald Trump, most likely, they’re going to be drawn in by it and forced to find out what is in the article.
[2] How well does the introductory section of the article invite the reader into the paper, as well as offer up exigency? How does it locate a problem or controversy within a context that provides background and rationale?
The intro section of the article basically lays out how the argument fits the title and how the argument will be expanded upon within the article. The article has four sections before it hits the main argument and the sections really lead up to show exactly how awful of a person Trump has been in the past, as well as present reasons why Trump will be an awful President.
[3] How well does the writer offer up a strong ‘idea’ that requires analysis to support and evolve it, as well as offers some point about the significance of evidence that would not have been immediately obvious to readers.?
A lot of people may think Trump is unsuitable to be President but, I believe my article shows the stage past that, the part that people think can’t happen, that is, what will happen if Trump becomes President? This article helps expand the idea around what exactly Trump may or may not do if he gets in the White House.
[4] How well does the writer show clarity of thought; uniqueness of presentation; evidence of style; and historicized topics?
Personally, I know I did my very best to present the argument “If Trump becomes President, he will ruin America.” I know it is an aggressive agreement but, if Trump does end up as president, something insane or drastically wrong is bound to happen and the purpose of my article is to startle readers to a point of realization that this idea makes sense. In my article, I do y best to touch all the sides of Trump that people should see in order to make an informed decision on who they are voting for in the upcoming election.
[5] How well does the writer recognize that a NYTs Magazine audience will challenge ideas that are overgeneralized or underdeveloped or poorly explained? (that is, did the writer avoid cliché and vagueness or address points/issues readers are likely to have?) How well did the writer decide about how to develop, sequence, and organize material?
It’s difficult to create the perfect argument and I know my argument is too strong but, there is a give and take between how accurate an argument is and the ability of the article to draw in readers. One wishes to develop an argument that is both well-thought-out and intriguing to an outside audience but, it’s tough when a writer has to be both accurate in all the material involved in the article as well as attractive to others. I tried to organize my material in a way that started with the light stuff at the beginning and ended with the heavier stuff that will leave the reader stunned.
[6] How well does the writer research a controversy, develop a persuasive stance, utilize research about the topic, and join the ‘debate’ by making an argument of importance?
My main job in writing this article was to get the facts when it came to what exactly Trump has done and said in the past to help prove he is an unsuitable presidential candidate. Hopefully, by gathering enough facts and making enough significant points I can show my audience just how dangerous Trump can be with the power of the country behind him.
[7] How well does the writer meet or exceed research expectations of assignment requirements (6 appropriate secondary sources, 1 visual source, (or more) and primary research? ).
In total, I believe I had 7 or 8 secondary sources and the required scholarly and primary source. I included an image at the beginning of my article but, media wasn’t really required when talking about Trump because it is more about what Trump says that captures his outrageousness rather than any image. The Primary research included the exact transcript of the Fox News interview where Trump said we have to take out the terrorist’s families, which I hope audiences will be shocked by the most.
[8] How well does the writer integrate secondary and primary sources (that support and complicate the topic) effectively into the text, introducing and contextualizing them, and “conversing” (i.e. no drop-quoting) in ways that deepen and complicate the analysis?
I did my best to use the primary and secondary sources together as ways to show people of Trump’s madness. I really tried to help make the flow of the article great, where one subject naturally transgresses into another subject without people stopping and saying, “Why is this here?”
[9 How well does the writer persuade an audience to consider claims made from a particular position of authority on which you have built your research? How strong and effective is the writer’s use of rhetorical tools (ethos, logos, pathos)?
I really tried to persuade audiences with common sense and fear. I tried to show the ridiculous things Trump has done repeatedly in the past and the terrible things Trump is capable of if elected president. I really gave a strong effort to show the ethical and logical reasoning behind my argument by displaying the type of immoral man Trump is and why we cannot have an untrustworthy man like Trump making all the decisions for a world power.
[10] How well does the writer select appropriate, interesting, revealing visual? Has the writer placed a visual strategically in the essay and provided relevant commentary on and/or analysis of them? Do the visuals contribute to the essay in meaningful ways (i.e. would the essay be affected if the writer took the visual away)?
I really tried to focus on the content and wording of my article to make the most sense out of my argument but, the reason I chose that specific photo of Trump because it was ironic in a way. Trump consistently will throw-up a peace sign at many of his rallies and public events but, I find it funny that a man who uses a sign for peace so often is one of the most aggressive and hostile presidential candidates in American History.
[11] How well does the writer show development of final article using various drafts, in-class peer editing and workshops, and/or teacher comments?
In my first couple drafts, I didn’t end very strong with my conclusion but, in my final draft, I really tried to end with a summarization and the full meaning of the article. I would continuously change and edit my article based on the feedback from the different activities from class and I really did my best when going from the 800 to 1250 to 1600-word draft to change things around in order to make the most logical and convincing article about why Trump should not be president as I could.
[12] How well does the writer use hyperlinks—are they effective/appropriate?
I did my best to encompass hyperlinks within the article in place where I used direct quotes or facts or in spots where readers may want to learn more about the subject or if they don’t know exactly what the article is discussing. The hyperlinks in my article are effective because they provide the most specific information on every topic I hit on within the article.
[13] How well did the writer edit for grammar, style, and usage effectively? Does the writer’s attention to sentence level issues help him/her establish authority or credibility on the issue?
The overall structure of my article involves correct grammar and proper style and sentence structure to help keep readers reading the article and understanding that I have done my research. If a reader identifies any errors or any repetitiveness in an article, it is typical that he or she will stop reading the article or cease to believe any of the article’s content; so, it is important for the authors to be through and knowledgeable when writing their article.