Reasons Why I Won’t Vote for Trump
When asked why I didn’t vote for Trump in 2016, I said that there were many reasons, but for me, it came down to the whole “Grab her by the P****” comment. Since then, I’ve been amazed at how many times I’ve been told that THAT wasn’t a good reason not to vote for Trump, and how all of that is just fake news. My reasoning isn’t good enough: it wasn’t valid or true.
Every woman I know knows men who say things like “Grab her by the P****”. We side-eye them, having them pegged normally within the first five minutes (or less) of knowing them. We have learned to identify them quickly out of pain and survival. Many of us are still drawn to this “bad boy” or “big talk” (narcissistic?) kind of person, to our detriment, but the older and wiser of us would never let our daughters near them—and that is how we know they aren’t good for us, or for anyone. Books and movies are dedicated to the redemption of this kind of man. While I am a firm believer in redemption, I am also a firm believer that only God can do that kind of heart change. Nothing I do will change this kind of man. They are best avoided. And for me, not a person I would vote for.
A couple of other reasons (not that I need them) why I won’t vote for Trump:
2.Age. You have to be 35 to be president. There are some under 35 who are very qualified, and would make great presidents. But in general, it is good to let maturity and experience take some time. I also apply that to the other end of the age spectrum. I think you shouldn’t be in office at age 75. Not that there aren’t capable people over 75 who would be great presidents, but just because physically it is so demanding, and that is just not a great choice to do with the energy you have left (Now you know I won’t be voting for Biden either).
3.Not being a good winner or loser. Trump hasn’t been good at either. Not only is he the kind of man we all know who talks about (and treats) women disrespectfully, he is also the annoying kid on the soccer team who can’t lose well—or win well. After all that happened after last year’s election, and how I saw people react to it, I wouldn’t vote for either person involved in the 2020 election for office ever again. They have been disqualified in my mind. I was an impressionable teenager during the close Bush/Gore election, and what I walked away with was that I had no clue of anything but that at least Gore had the ability to lose decently. This seems like a basic quality needed for any role with power.
4.Lying. Again, another human thing we learn is to detect lies, and to know who is trustworthy. While I could list specific instance after specific instance of Trump lying, there are those who believe it is all a scheme to defame him. His personality has been built off of mixing truth with lies for the purpose of benefiting himself. Some people you just learn not to trust, and that is how you deal with them: as someone who cannot be trusted. The fact that Trump may actually believe many of these lies does not make the situation any better.
5.Unkindness and lacking decency. You know someone by how they treat others, and Trump is known for not treating people kindly or with common decency. That does not mean he isn’t kind and decent when he wants to be, I am sure he is. But you know someone by how they treat the undesirable and those that cannot benefit him. Not only is he unkind, but he promotes unkindness in others. Be careful who you put in power, because those in power reveal what kind of character is politically advantageous, and it inspires others.
6. Bitterness. As Trump started campaigning after 2020, I noticed a new tone in his words and actions: bitterness. The whole rhetoric about him “Standing in the way of them getting to you” stuff was amplified and repeated over and over as he plays the victim. Dictator jokes are unbecoming. The tests of loyalty and making sure to have “his people” in control are signs of weakness, not strength. Fear, not courage. His root of bitterness (Hebrews 12:15) is biblically promised to lead to trouble.
7. Political issues. All of the other reasons I’ve stated have to do with character (or age), not politics. I will never agree with any president on everything they stand for, nor do I expect to. But the amount of ruthless behavior, and the rewarding of ruthless behavior that was a part of his administration, as well as the countless witch hunts to find those who were “unloyal,” (and the consequential sucking up that was done and encouraged) was politics at its ugliest. I am not saying that nothing good came from Trump’s time in office, or that there were not good people involved. But one of the tipping points for me, and when I saw this so clearly, was when I read “The Secret History of the U.S. Government’s Family-Separation Policy” by Caitlin Dickerson for the Atlantic.
The problem is, even with these seven clearly stated principles, I have no doubt that there are people who still believe my reasons for not voting for Trump are invalid, fake news, and not worth considering. For every specific example I give, they can give me two explaining it away, or say it was just the media trying to destroy him. It is sad to say that I know so many people that it does not matter what Trump does, or will do—they will vote for him. I also feel sad that there is also nothing he could do/not do that would convince me that he has changed enough for me to vote for him. He has shown who he is very clearly. It is just that half our country sees who he is and what he has done as something to vote for, and half our country sees the same exact things he is and has done as something that disqualifies him for their vote. This is baffling to me.
Maybe you see a glimmer of truth in one of these points. But what about the other guy? Do we just let them win? Aren’t they worse? How quickly we forget that we are not in charge. Voting for the lesser of two evils doesn’t sit right with my conscience. How quickly we forget we serve an all-powerful God who can use anything and anyone for His good. How quickly we lose our imagination of what God can do. Since Obama (maybe earlier), I have been consistently told that America as we know it will be destroyed if the other guy wins. It hasn’t happened yet. It probably won’t happen. And if it does, God is still in control, and I still look to Him. That doesn’t change. Living outside of America has shown me that governments can get pretty bad and life still goes on. Catastrophizing doesn’t do any good, it is just fear-mongering boy cried wolf, and I am over it.