The Toll of Trumpism On Our Nation:
How Donald Trump's Lies & Poison Have Already Destroyed Communities, Ruined Lives, and Will Continue to Do So.
Feel free to check the entire blog archives from “Political Pulse” & “Salzillo Report” on the 2024 primary cycle, rural outreach, redistricting litigation, base dynamics, campaign organization, the current media landscape, the issues at stake, Project 2025, Build Back Better, the progressive movement, the true story about former 2024 VP contender Gina Raimondo, and much more.
For those who haven’t seen “From Russia with Lev,” do watch it. Lev’s story is one you would never believe at all, if it wasn’t for his truly extensive photo and video record keeping.
The biggest surprise: Lev Parnas apologizing in person to Hunter Biden for his involvement in the Ukraine scandal. Just one example of how Trump has ruined people’s lives. Including those of even his “friends,” like Michael Cohen, who helped him out for ages and remained loyal almost to the very bitter end.
Something you expect more from a mob boss than a former President of the United States.
What Donald Trump has done to our nation is a moral disgrace. Is it all him? No. He gets a lot of help from people who should know better. Like “Little Marco” Rubio, “Lyin’ Ted” Cruz, and JD “Trump Could Be America’s Hitler” Vance. All these people once shared not only a visible disgust with Trump, but some (like Vance, ironically) often criticized the very same policies that the Trump-Vance ticket are promoting now on the campaign trail.
But I digress. More broadly-speaking, Trump was also able to exploit the hard feelings of people who rightfully felt exploited for way too long. For instance, he is not completely wrong on honing into the emotions of people who were left behind with the mechanization in agriculture and deindustrialization of the manufacturing base we once had. Or how our society and economy is indeed changing with more technology, and globalization patterns that risk leaving people behind.
Unlike President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris though, Trump has no concrete solutions to those issues and others. Indeed, he never had one, whether it was in 2017, or in 2020, or otherwise. The most he has ever offered for any working person has been divide-and-conquer, pitting fellow Americans against each other, to devastating effect and at an extreme cost to our nation.
Let’s begin with Springfield, Ohio, a model for what America would look like in a return of Donald Trump. Springfield, Ohio, ironically enough, is a red town in a red state. It is a community trying to rebound its economy. Lately, it has been somewhat successful, seeing some economic growth in recent years.
Yet now it deals with daily bomb threats, intimidation against community members, financial losses from a downturn in economic activity (for security reasons), school closures, hospital lockdowns, and a partial city shutdown for fear of right-wing violence. The Proud Boys are now marching on the streets of Springfield, Ohio, as are other Neo-Nazis and white supremacists. These groups have empowered the haters out there to intimidate, threaten, and attack Haitian migrants.
Because of the Trump-Vance disinformation campaign, the mayor has had to usurp emergency powers, and Ohio GOP Governor Mike DeWine has had to demand (unsuccessfully) that the false bogus rumors and theories come to a stop.
This is America under Trump. An America under terror from right-wing mobs, Proud Boys, Nazis, Anti-Semitic “Great Replacement Theory” fanatics, and many others. Trump and Vance falsely and knowingly spread the conspiracy that Haitian immigrants in Springfield—who actually came here legally and are not “illegal aliens”—ate dogs, cats, geese, and other pets and animals. There is no proof of that, which JD Vance’s Senate office actually disclosed to city officials.
Nevertheless, they spread the conspiracy. They fanned the flames, and this is what it led to even in a Trump-supporting community. To all the Trump supporters out there, is this what you want in your neighborhood? What is occurring in Springfield and in Ohio is an example of how lies can ruin lives, and can even kill people.
Let’s be clear: Trump and Vance are trafficking in pure bigotry (Trump seems to have a particular dislike for Haitians, perhaps stemming for a 40-year-long debunked notion that Haitians played a disproportionate role in spreading AIDS). These fantasies of Haitian migrants would never have happened if the migrants had a different skin color. If the immigrants were Scandinavian, Italian, French, or English, Trump-Vance would have cared less. But because the Haitians are black, the Trump-Vance team thought it should incite the darkest elements of our nation. Wonder if Trump still believes Haiti is a “shithole country?” We can only assume he does.
Forget discussing how to assist the community with the increase in migrants or with sustaining its city services and finances. Let’s just demonize the community. Hey, it is all Trump and Vance are good for. Vance himself admitted on TV creating this story (for personal gain alone, really).
That’s only one story. Similar problems have affected Aurora, Colorado, run (again, ironically) by a Republican Mayor and former Congressman Mike Coffman. While there are similar immigration backlogs and issues in Aurora, the rumors of Venezuelan gangs taking over apartments buildings are vastly exaggerated and untrue. Which is what the Republican Mayor and Democratic Congressman in the area both said.
That has not stopped the Trump lies, as well as their predictable effects. Do not forget: the El Paso shooter of 2019 was motivated to target Latinos in the local market center because of Trump’s demonization of black and brown immigrants. Particularly undocumented immigrants from Central and South America.
Just one other way Trump and his minions ruin people forever.
Let’s move onto the toll of Trumpism on our elections. Trump sows distrust not just in the 2020 election results—which he lost both in the popular and electoral votes—but also in how 2024 might go. He continues to do so after losing more than 60 court cases and inciting an insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6th. The result of that?
Election officials are intimidated, bullied, and threatened at historic levels. There has been a noticeable decrease in election worker volunteers since 2020. They are worried for a reason. Who wants to work somewhere in fear for their own lives? Polling stations now have to put up bulletproof glass, set up panic buttons in case they are attacked, bring in kevlar vests, and add more police and security presence. Election officials in Georgia and Arizona, for instance, have received death threats for merely doing their job.
Remember the names of those who lives have changed forever because of election denialism. People like Michael Fanone, Harry Dunn, Eugene Goodman, Aquilino Gonell, Caroline Edwards, Rusty Bowers, Bill Gates (no, not the billionaire one), Brad Raffensperger, and Gabe Sterling. Honestly, you can even add the GOP fake electors conned into buying the Big Lie into the mix. This is all your fault Donald. You did this to them.
To this day, Donald Trump and JD Vance have refused to concede the 2020 election to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, in contrast to the gracious losers, and real patriots, like Al Gore, John Kerry, John McCain, and Mitt Romney.
In fact, they are at it still, with the MAGA takeover of the Georgia elections board, Ken Paxton’s raids on Latino political organizers, the Florida election police searching houses of abortion providers, and local sheriffs in Ohio writing down addresses of Harris-Walz supporters (and not Trump-Vance supporters).
Even in the legal cases, Trump’s unverified and inaccurate claims of weaponization has resulted in the need for greater security for judicial officials, local law enforcement personnel, and major agencies like the DOJ, the FBI, and the CIA.
We could go on and on with Trump about his bigotry and his acceptance of political violence and chaos—even if it means chaos in the very communities that support him. Trump supporters beware. This may happen in a city near you. Any of this should be enough to disqualify Trump and any of his political allies on the federal and state levels.
Which is why we must support the Harris-Walz ticket and boost the down ballot push as well.
And it is more important from this alone that the Harris-Walz campaign does more to tout the Build Back Better track record with its historic progress, and discuss the 2024 campaign vision to address the other big issues we face as a nation. Less scapegoating and more substance.
Trump is the voice of darkness in this campaign. He is also “The Man Who Cried Wolf,” with all kinds of failed apocalyptic predictions. Here are a few examples:
Trump predicted a massive depression if Joe Biden became President. It did not happen. Now he says the same will happen with Harris if she wins. You sure about that, Daffy Donald?
Trump says there will be lawlessness and disorder if Harris becomes President, even though crime went up with Trump and down with Biden.
Trump says we will not have a country if Harris wins because the borders will be open. I don’t know about that. Border crossings are down and an insurrection didn’t take place in the last 4 years. Which greatly increases the odds of us having a country.
Trump says Israel will not exist if Harris is elected President. Actually, this is a pretty tame threat compared to what he recently said about Jewish voters who have the chutzpah to disagree with him.
Trump said there would be no fracking under Biden, and now has said the same about Harris. Just the same tired nonsense.
Trump said 401Ks would go down under a Biden Presidency. The stock market is instead breaking records.
Trump said Biden would lock us down for years. We actually are much closer to normalcy than Trump ever was in his final year in office.
Trump said China would run Biden & Harris. Ehhh…not really.
Trump said the automobile industry wouldn’t exist and farmers’ lives would be in disrepair. Agriculture and manufacturing is still here Donald and always will be.
Trump said marriages would not happen under Biden. Well? I think you all can judge that claim for yourselves.
Trump said there will be no Christmases, Thanksgivings, Fourth of Julies, or Easters on hand. Who has a loud buzzer for this one? Would Trump like to go for double jeopardy, where the scores can really change?
Trump says America will be a Third World country with a Harris Presidency, the same prediction he made with Clinton and Biden. How about Trump stops shit-talking America for once and says something good about someone or something other than himself?
Hardly a sign of encouragement for supporting the Trump Republicans. Feel free, and welcome, to join the Harris-Walz team. Democracy needs your vote!
Trump Derrangement Syndrome ?