It’s time to let him go. Step away from the altar. Hold out for another hero. Fanboying and fangirling as a Swiftie or part of the Beyhive is one thing; but presidential candidates should offer us more than catchy lyrics, a good beat, or a tired slogan.
Embrace reality and a presidential candidate who actually cares about someone other than himself — someone who is not just looking to recapture a job that strokes his ego and keeps him out of prison.
You all know very well that if President Joe Biden went on a national debate stage and started rambling about migrants in Springfield, Ohio, eating cats and dogs the way Donald Trump did at his lowest point in last Tuesday’s debate against Vice President Kamala Harris, you would not only spin it as “evidence” that he’s facing end-stage dementia. You’d label him certifiably bonkers.
What is it going to take for you to realize the man is dead weight? Judging from the 2022 midterm elections, which were supposed to be a bloodbath for the Democrats but weren’t, an endorsement from the man who currently owns the Republican Party is as likely to backfire as it is to lead to victory. I know that deep down you all know he lost the 2020 election, and if he loses the next election, he’ll spend the next four years complaining about how it was stolen, and you’ll probably put all your eggs in his basket in 2028… again.
Trump likes to brag about how no Republican presidential candidate has ever received more popular votes than he did in 2020 (though he still lost). Voter turnout was higher in 2020 than it’s been in any other presidential election this century, which explains the record number of votes for both candidates. But even with all those votes, Trump still lost the popular vote… again. Who cares about the size of his rallies? Both Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden received more votes than he did.
Look, I’m not living in an echo chamber, nor do I want to. It sounds like an uncomfortable place to sleep. So if you have something intelligent and informed to say in Trump’s defense, I’m open to hearing it. Prove me wrong about him. It will help me sleep a lot better in the weeks leading up to Election Day.
William Spivey
But for the love of democracy, think for yourself and stop reposting other people’s cheap musings on social media. Things were not better in 2020. The streets of the country’s biggest cities were deserted, businesses were closing, weddings were being cancelled, people were fighting over masks and hoarding toilet paper, and Americans were losing their jobs and holding out their hands for stimulus checks from the same federal government that Republicans want to stay out of our lives (except when it’s imposing restrictions and bans on abortion).
In 2020, the nation was in turmoil over the murder of George Floyd, and thousands of Americans were dying every day because of a global pandemic that then-President Trump wouldn’t take seriously. Remember when he told you to drink bleach?
Ah yes, the good old days.
I remember sitting in my apartment on East Houston Street in New York City, listening to ambulances drive by 24/7, knowing the death toll was rising every time one passed under my window.
I remember hearing Black Lives Matter protestors marching by on the street below my window. I remember alternating between disbelief and rage as Black Lives Matter protestors where demonized by the GOP.
I remember hearing the celebration in the streets below the morning of November 7, after CNN called the presidential election for Biden. I remember my tears of joy that day. That was the best day of 2020.
Oh, but I forgot: As much as you like to cry and wring your hands over immigration, cancel culture, woke-ness, trans girls playing school sports, Critic Race Theory, DEI, and abortion after birth, at the end of every election day, it’s all about your almighty wallet. That's why you keep sharing those ridiculous posts that compare interest rates, gas prices, and inflation in 2020 and 2024.
I know you realize the internet is your friend because that's presumably where you find these agenda-driven posts that conveniently leave out context. So before you hit “share,” educate yourself. I made a C+ in economics is college, but I know enough to know this: The reason mortgage rates were so low in 2020 and 2021 was because we were in the middle of the biggest pandemic to hit the world in a century.
My husband and I bought our apartment in New York City in August of 2023 at an interest rate of 7 percent. I wish we’d bought two years earlier, but let’s put it all into perspective: Mortgage rates during the ’80s — the decade of your previous GOP king of kings (second only to your White Jesus) Ronald Reagan — soared to as high as 18 percent. They’ll stabilize eventually, regardless of who wins this election, but, regardless of who wins this election, they won’t go back to 2.7 percent in the near future… if ever.
As for the price of gas and inflation, those are global phenomena that were not created by the Biden administration. The entire world is still dealing with the trauma of COVID.
And even if gas prices and inflation weren’t global phenomena, any good economist will tell you that it takes time — up to two years, sometimes even more — to see the full effect of current fiscal policy. Biden inherited a mess, just as Franklin Delano Roosevelt did in 1933, following three Republican administrations. The Great Depression didn’t end until 1939 — and today, FDR, who was elected in 1932, is considered by experts and historians to be one of our greatest presidents.
Trump could enter your home and hold your entire family at gunpoint. You’d still beg for the privilege of licking his boots.
I have been a student of U.S. presidential history since second grade, and I can assure you, history will be a lot kinder to Biden than it will be to a twice-impeached convicted felon who bungled the country’s response to a global pandemic. And if you want to talk about using the law as a political weapon, have a seat. Let’s discuss Hillary Clinton’s emails and Trump’s back-up 2016 campaign slogan: “Lock her up!”
Furthermore, gas prices and inflation in the United States are both lower than they are in many comparable Western countries. In Canada, the average price of gas per gallon was U.S.$5.06 in June (compared to $3.75 in the U.S.). In the U.K., it was U.S.$6.98. Are you going to blame the high price of gas in Canada and the U.K. on Joe Biden, too.
And for anyone who is eating up Trump’s self-congratulatory back-slapping, chew on this: He did not create a strong economy; he inherited one. For anyone who wants to make him a martyr facing a corrupt and biased legal system, here’s another dose of reality: The same legal system that made Trump a convicted felon also overturned Roe v. Wade. You don’t get to respect and uphold the law only when it works in your favor. By the way, the same thing goes for elections.
Finally, on an unrelated-to-Trump note, stop calling us Socialists and Communists. I am a proud Capitalist, as are many of my fellow Democrats, but I place a high premium on compassion and community. The fact that you use “Socialist” and “Communist” interchangeably tell me you don’t know what either word actually means, and you’re just reciting tired Cold War rhetoric.
Look, in the end, root for whomever. I don’t really care. You made up your mind eight years ago, and at this point, Trump could enter your home and hold your entire family at gunpoint. You’d still beg for the privilege of licking his boots.
Those of us on the other side of the aisle are smarter than that. Harris read Trump from cover to cover in 90 minutes last week. Now it’s time to turn the page on him and that tired old playbook.
Sincerely,
A Thinking Democrat
This post originally appeared on Medium and is edited and republished with author's permission. Read more of Jeremy Heligar's work on Medium.