Donald (“pretend-I’m-on-the-ballot”) Trump has made this election into a referendum on him. Good.
He is a historic anomaly whose election to the highest office in the land — twice! — will forever be a stain on the judgment of the American people. A president who lies incessantly; who generates fear and fuels hatefulness; who viciously attacks the free press, political opponents, and all who disagree with him; who uses his office for personal gain; and who cozies up to dictators such as Vladimir Putin while turning against our historic friends, such as Canada.
For the sake of our democracy and our future, we must send a clear signal on Tuesday that we find Trump repugnant. A rejection beyond mere repudiation. A clear vote of no confidence.
While Trump and his Republican enablers have manufactured false threats to America — Americans who are Muslim, Mexican Americans, Latino Americans, transgender Americans, fraudulent voters, “globalists” — they dismiss the real threats to America that are growing worse by the day: climate change; widening inequalities of income, wealth, and political power; unregulated AI; and the most expensive and least effective healthcare system in the world.
We must get back to work on what is critical to our future.
Every branch of the federal government is now under the control of the Republican Party, and the Republican Party is under the control of Trump. Unless constrained, he and they will be emboldened — to eliminate what’s left of the Affordable Care Act, to further cut Medicare and Medicaid, to eviscerate Social Security, to give even more tax cuts to the rich and large corporations.
The Republican Party has lost its right to govern. It once stood for a set of ideas that, while not always appropriate to America’s needs, at least gave the party some reason for being: states’ rights, free trade, and fiscal prudence. Now it stands for nothing but Trumpism.
It is time to renounce the hatemongering and race-baiting that has engulfed this nation.
It is time to affirm that we are a tolerant and courageous people — not the bigots and fearful cowards Trump and the Republicans have made us out to be.
It is time to lead the world again, not pretend we can isolate ourselves from it. Our greatness isn’t found in the color of our skin or the uniformity of our ethnicity. It is found in our dedication to democracy, equality of opportunity, tolerance of others, and freedom.
It is time to throw the bums out.
Vote Tuesday as if your life and the lives of those you love depend on it.
They do.
Robert Reich is a professor of public policy at Berkeley and former secretary of labor. His writings can be found at https://robertreich.substack.com/.
