Since Donald J. Trump’s inauguration in 2017, the level of hate and tension in the air has been high-strung, anywhere you go in the United States. Marginalized groups are feeling more oppressed compared to a certain hope Obama gave, and white nationalists are confident in their ability to intimidate others. But what facts back up the concept that Trump is a terrible influence (not to mention a horrific person in general)? Here are the facts.
The first President I remember in my life was Barack Obama, and now seeing his position mocked has essentially made the Presidency a joke. Trump has called the porn-star he paid to have relations with a “horseface”, “Such a nasty woman,” about his runner-up, Hillary Clinton and “You’ve got to deny, deny, deny and push back on these women. If you admit to anything and any culpability, then you’re dead. … You’ve got to be strong. You’ve got to be aggressive. You’ve got to push back hard. You’ve got to deny anything that’s said about you. Never admit.” The quotes cited should never come out of the mouth of a school club leader, let alone the President of the United States, without serious repercussion.
These disgusting comments, along with the ever-disputed suggestive locker room talk, have specifically empowered white men–the one section of the human race that does not need more encouragement to do wrong. And yet, ever since the inauguration of Trump in 2017, white men have been acting out in the most terrifying ways. Here are some:
2017 became the deadliest year for mass shootings in the entire history of the United States. Mass shootings do not have a strict definition, however, in the past, the range that must occur to call a shooting a mass shooting must include the death of 4 individuals, not including the gunman. As Gun Violence Archive reports, there were 345 mass shootings in America in just the year 2017, most of them killing and injuring more than 4 people. The most gruesome and memorable (shuddered just typing that) were done by white males, surprise! For example, the lone gunman behind the Las Vegas country music attack that killed 58 and injured 500 was a white man named Stephen Paddock. In a Texas church shooting, which left 26 dead, the gunman was another white man, Devin Patrick Kelley. And again, Nikolas Cruz (a white man, shocker) killed 17 classmates and teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
Senior Corrina Cooper comments,”Trump’s rhetoric empowers people who agree with his violent beliefs.”
Although many claim that the President is simply a masthead for foreign affairs, the white man in America follows behind him diligently.
