By Scott Tibbs, June 19, 2015
Donald Trump announced this week that he will be running for President in 2016, and I reiterate my statement from four years ago that I will not vote for him. I will not even consider voting for Trump. As bad as John McCain was, Trump is far worse. In addition to being a clown, he is a thug and a thief who (if he is not racist himself) plays to racism in his attacks on President Obama.
Let's start with Trump's idiotic statement on Twitter that "because president Obama has done such a poor job as president, you won't see another black president for generations!"
First, if you want to be technical about it, Obama is biracial. Therefore if his race has any bearing on the qualifications of people of the same race (Hint: It does not) then Obama's performance reflects poorly on whites too. Second, it is completely absurd to argue that because Obama has been a failure that other blacks are not qualified to be President. This "argument" by Trump is the dictionary definition of racism - that negative characteristics of one person of a particular race is indicative of all those of the same race.
The charitable interpretation of that statement is that Trump is a racist. The uncharitable interpretation is that Trump is not a racist but is cynically using racism for political gain, which is even worse because he does not even believe what he is saying. Trump makes it easy for cynical race-baiters to smear all critics of Obama as disliking him only for his race, which is why I strongly denounce him here. I have no use for Obama, who has been a terrible President and an uncompromising enemy of liberty. But criticisms of Obama should be based on what he does, not who he is.
Trump does not believe in private property rights, which are critical to many of our liberties protected by the Constitution. For example, Fourth and Fifth Amendments operate under the assumption that private property rights are essential to liberty. Much of the concern over the government's intrusion into our privacy in the name of the War on Terror is essentially an argument about private property rights.
Trump is a clown and a joke, but he is also a threat to our liberty. Republicans should not be fooled by someone who has no real principles and is only running to satisfy his lust for attention. If Trump wants attention, he should make another appearance at WrestleMania and leave politics to those who are serious. If Trump somehow wins the Republican nomination, I will vote Libertarian like I did in 2008.
