I think I have probably made it clear what I think of Donald Trump as a presidential candidate – and president. Among other things, see “I Have Too Much Respect for My Country and Myself to Vote for Donald Trump” and “25 Years Later, Will 2016 See a Repeat of ‘Vote for the Crook: It’s Important’?”
But what if you believe that Hillary Clinton would be an absolutely terrible president? What do you do if you think she is going to be another four years of Barack Obama – or even more so? What if you have a belief in the Constitution and an understanding of the proper role of government in (and over) our lives that is very different from hers? Isn’t even the risk of Donald Trump better than that? How could he be worse?
First, let’s look at some issues. I understand that Hillary Clinton is against the Trans Pacific Partnership, though she used to be for it. I am in favor of the TPP. I think it’s a good thing, not for every person individually, but certainly for our country as a whole and for the other counties, too. As did Secretary Clinton. But now she is against it, and I will assume she will not switch back. On the other hand, Donald Trump talks about putting a 45% tariff on goods from China. While not approving TPP would be most unfortunate, a 45% tariff on goods from China would be disastrous. In spite of what Mr. Trump might say, China would retaliate. It could easily deteriorate into a worldwide trade war. And if you say, he wouldn’t do really do it, then what is he going to do and how do you know – a different question, which I will get into later.
If Hillary Clinton is elected president, she will get to appoint at least one Supreme Court justice – and maybe more. A number of important 5-4 decisions could be overturned. (See “Freedom of Political Speech May Depend on 2016.”) If Secretary Clinton appoints younger justices, the Supreme Court could be lost for a generation or more. That is a generation of bad decisions, decisions that expand the power of government, especially the federal government, and limit our rights. In other words, really bad. But we have no idea who Donald Trump would appoint. I don’t care what he says he will do. He says so many things, how do you know what to believe? What I do know is that he has talked about increasing the power of government with respect to libel laws, so he can go after newspapers who say things he doesn’t like. As a businessperson, Mr. Trump used the power of government to help his business interests. Why should we believe he would appoint justices who would limit his power to do these kinds of things?
When it comes to foreign affairs, I believe Barack Obama has been terrible. The ignored redline in Syria. Leaving Iraq in a way that forced us to return. The “good war” in Afghanistan deteriorating as the President talked more about leaving than getting the job done. Russia in Syria and eastern Ukraine. Bombing Libya and then not following through (just as we did in Iraq at the beginning), which opened up a spot for ISIS. While I don’t think Hillary Clinton would be as bad as that, she was Barak Obama’s first Secretary of State. Also, it is my impression most of the Democratic Party base pretty believes in President Obama’s approach, which is going to make it hard for Secretary Clinton to stray that far from his policies. Donald Trump, on the other hand, has one main foreign policy adviser – himself, and according to him, he has “a very big brain.” That scares me. Our best foreign policy presidents (consider George H.W. Bush) worked with a team of helpers and advisers. Donald Trump has himself – and that is all he seems to think he needs.
Mr. Trump’s proposal to keep all Muslims out of the United States won’t help us; it will hurt us. It will encourage the radicalization of Muslims already in the United States, and it will lose us friends we need in Muslim countries around the world. His policy to build a wall on the Mexican border and get Mexico to pay for it is stupid. Mexico is not going to pay for it. Why does Mr. Trump think we can do or say things like this to other countries, and they won’t react?
I really have no idea what Donald Trump will do in foreign affairs. None whatsoever. Other than he seems to like Vladimir Putin, who I think is one of the biggest problems we have in foreign affairs, not one of the people we should respect.
But it’s not just Donald Trump’s positions; it’s his character, too. I realize Hillary Clinton is not an example of a fine moral character. As I said last week with respect to contributions by foreign governments to the Clinton Foundation (which has her name on it) while she was Secretary of State: “It was unseemly and indicative of an attitude with respect to private gain and public service that I do not find acceptable.” But Mr. Trump threatens people, asking his supporters to beat them up. He says that, if he does not get the nomination, his supporters will riot.
He insults people. He says that a woman reporter has “blood flowing out of her wherever.” I don’t understand that kind of comment. It is unacceptable in private, let alone public. He insults John McCain, a man who cannot raise his arms above his shoulders because of torture by the North Vietnamese. Yet Mr. Trump says he is not a hero. That is beyond unacceptable.
I think then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, in a news conference in 2002, summed it up as to why I will not support Donald Trump:
“[T]here are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don't know we don't know. And if one looks throughout the history of our country and other free countries, it is the latter category that tend to be the difficult ones.”
The problems with a Hillary Clinton presidency are mostly in the first category. We pretty much know how bad it will be – and it would be pretty bad. A few of the problems with a Donald Trump presidency are in the first category. A few more are in the second category. But the real concern about a Donald Trump presidency is in the third category. We don’t even know what we don’t know about a Donald Trump presidency. And the dangerousness of that, in the world we live in today, is worse than even the known problems of a Hillary Clinton presidency.
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