America stands at a crossroads. Our nation finds itself in turbulent waters. We must navigate through a complicated world and a climate that is hostile toward the very ideals that make this country so great. Chief among these ideals is the belief that all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with inalienable rights, which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Our choice in this election is more than just a choice. It is a decision on whether we truly hold these values at heart and seek to continue this great American experiment. It is a choice on what the trajectory of our great nation is, for not just the next four years, but generations to come. That is why I am supporting Vice President Kamala Harris for president of the United States.
In such a polarized political climate, Harris’ commitment to progress, unity, inclusivity, equality and justice offers a clear contrast to Donald Trump.
Growing up, we were all taught the golden rule, to treat others the way you want to be treated. Imagery we are shown in the media constantly reflects this. The father of four bringing soup to his ailing neighbor. The teacher that takes money out of her own pocketbook to buy school supplies for her students. The men who serve at the volunteer fire department. The grandmother who sends a check to help sick children every month. The woman who pays for the next person’s groceries because they can’t. This is what America represents and is not what Trump seems to believe.
Trump’s lack of care for the American people was on full display when he froze in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. The complete dereliction of office was stunning. The numerous insulting “COVID press conferences” that he turned into his own reality show, suggesting that Americans inject bleach to prevent COVID-19 infection, his spreading of misinformation, and his admitted downplaying of the disease to Bob Woodward following the fact. And all of that is without mentioning the over one million Americans who died.
It does not get better when it comes to the Americans being killed by gun violence. After a school shooting in Iowa in January, following his “sincerest condolences,” Trump said that Americans should “get over” the tragedy that saw kids shot dead in classrooms.
For our veterans, Trump has a lot to say. He decried war hero John McCain as “not a hero” because he was captured in Vietnam; asked why the fallen gave their lives if there was nothing in it for them; compared avoiding STDs in the 90s to his personal Vietnam; called those who lost their lives in France during WWII “suckers and losers”; and just this week, broke Arlington National Cemetery protocol in one of its most sacred areas by making a mockery of the cemetery and taking pictures ghoulishly smiling by a gravesite. In fact, he doubled down on the visit, posting a political ad to TikTok based on the visit.
When it comes to issues like the border and immigration, he plays political games for his own benefit rather than solve the problem. Such was the case earlier this year when conservative Oklahoma Senator James Lankford authored a bipartisan immigration bill that included many concessions from Democrats and the Biden administration. The bill would have been the most conservative border policy implemented in years. That is why Trump killed the bill. He urged members of the Republican Party to oppose the bill simply because if the immigration problem was solved, he would have nothing to run on.
Trump’s inability to put the country above his own interest extended to his appointments to White House positions and his blatant nepotism. His own daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner were appointed to senior positions as advisers in his administration, and Kushner was allowed to act on behalf of Trump as special envoy for the Middle East. While in their positions, Kushner and Ivanka Trump made $640 million dollars from suspicious sources.
As if that were not enough, his actions surrounding the last election and inability to accept defeat further prove he’s seeking only his own benefit. Instead of acknowledging his loss, he put his own selfish pride above his responsibility to this country and brought us to the brink of constitutional crisis with the deadly riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. And now, with that same selfish pride, he threatens the basic tenets of liberal democracy and constitutional order by laying the groundwork to another “stolen election” lie.
Through Christian nationalist domestic policy, Trump seeks to turn the clocks back on social issues and civil rights, such as continuing his Supreme Court’s draconian abortion rulings. He also has expressed interest in continuing Republican states’ policies of suppressing LGBTQ+ rights. He has endorsed measures to pursue nativist and cruel immigration policies and gleams at the idea of mass deportation of all undocumented people in the United States.
On the international stage, he seeks to isolate America through trade and through abandoning our allies while they stare down authoritarianism, including pulling out of NATO and allowing Russia to do “whatever the hell it wants” in Europe.
Despite his claims of fighting for the middle class, Trump’s trickle-down economic theory has consistently lowered taxes on Wall Street bankers, but for the middle class family of five, it has done nothing but accelerate their struggle and cause the deficit to balloon. He has sold out the environment to rich oil executives, practically allowing them to write his climate policy in exchange for campaign contributions. He continuously rips off his supporters with gimmicks to enrich himself, with the rollout of NFTs, sneakers and Bibles, the purchases of which go toward the Trump Organization, not the campaign.
Unlike Trump, Harris grew up in everyday America as the daughter of two hardworking middle-class parents. Harris knows and understands the everyday struggles that many Americans face. She envisions an America where healthcare is a right, where no person has to choose between filling their prescriptions and feeding their family, where women’s healthcare decisions are respected, and where every person is free to be who they are and with pride.
In her capacity as a public servant, be it prosecutor, district attorney, senator or vice president, Harris believes in an America where every child has access to a quality education and can go to school and not fear violence. An America where we protect our environment and where the rule of law is upheld. An America where we salute and take care of our troops. An America where we respect workers’ right to unionize and an America that is investing in lower-income families and the middle class, because their strength is our strength.
This election is a defining moment for our nation in which we can choose to uphold the values that make this nation so great and ensure that the American dream remains a reality. We can move on from the chaos, hate and division of the Trump years and rebuke them once and for all. Or we can choose complacency and go back to Trump’s chaos.
This fall, we must send a resounding message to those who seek to turn back the pages of time: We will not go back.
Join me and millions of other Americans in supporting Vice President Harris through involvement on campus, social media, volunteer work and, most importantly, getting out the vote on Nov. 5. Because when we fight, we win.
