Viewpoint: Democrats — Supporters of Democracy cannot support Donald Trump

Donald Trump has not earned your vote to be re-elected president of the United States.

In 2016, Trump promised to “Make America Great Again.” Now he promises to “Keep America Great.” Look around. Is this the great America that you want to keep?

Under Trump’s leadership, we have a higher rate of infection and death from the COVID-19 virus than any other country. Mixed messages about wearing masks and closing schools and restaurants has left this country leaderless in the face of this pandemic.

Under the Trump administration, we have experienced the greatest economic collapse since the Great Depression. Record unemployment. Record stock market losses. This is of course partly due to COVID-19, but Trump must bear his portion of the blame in the face of his botched response to the virus.

Our country is deeply divided. Instead of trying to bring the country back together, Trump has fanned the flames and made the divisions even deeper. His campaign is showing images of looting in the street, as if to say “re-elect Trump to end all of this violence that is occurring on HIS watch.”

Trump, who purports to be for law and order, has been surrounded by scandal.

There have been eight Trump associates arrested or convicted of crimes. Many are serving or have served time in prison. He has paid hush money to a porn star. He was impeached by the House of Representatives for using his power as president to try to coerce a foreign government to investigate his opponent. He only survived removal from office in the Senate by a few votes, with one member of his own party voting to remove him.

If you are a veteran, you should remember Trump’s infamous statement about the late Senator John McCain, who was shot down serving his country, flying a mission over Vietnam and was subsequently captured and tortured. Trump commented, “I like people who don’t get captured.” All the more insulting knowing that Trump avoided service in Vietnam for bone spurs.

I won’t waste time trying to establish that Trump has had a difficult relationship with the truth and facts. His lies are too numerous to count. Even his supporters can’t deny that. His own intelligence community reports that Putin and Russia meddled in the 2016 election and he doesn’t believe it. His own government reports climate change is a problem and he doesn’t believe it. And now he is constantly at odds with his own Centers for Disease Control about how to combat COVID-19.

But the most compelling reason to defeat Donald Trump in this upcoming election is just simply to preserve Democracy itself.

He has been asked whether or not he will commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the election and will only say “it depends on what happens.”

Whether you are conservative, liberal, moderate or nonpolitical this should frighten you. We have a man in the most powerful position on the planet that won’t rule out staying in power, even if it’s against the will of the American people. Too many men and women have sacrificed too much for 244 years establishing this democracy for it to end now.

I have to believe that this country is ready to move on from Trump. Ready to move on from the daily chaos of conspiracy theories, lies and vicious attacks. And ready to return to calm, decency and unity.

French is a member of the Butler County Democratic Central Committee.

Editor’s note: This is one of two columns written this week by local members of the Republican and Democrat parties looking at who is the better option for president, Donald Trump or Joe Biden.