Why Not to Vote for Trump, From A to Z

From abortion to Zika, all the reasons you shouldn’t cast a vote for the GOP nominee

For millions of Americans, there’s no denying that a certain appeal. He’s brash. He’s rich. He’s unapologetic. He projects himself as a champion of the working stiff.
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But before you cast a ballot for Trump, consider what you are actually endorsing. As voters, we all give favored candidates a few mulligans: “I disagree with the candidate on X” – or even X, Y and Z – “but I’m comfortable voting for that person.”

Trump is not your average candidate.

Here we present a Trump A-to-Z challenge: 26 declarations Trump has made over the course of the campaign. Can you stomach what Trump has said he stands for – from abortion to Zika – and still cast a ballot for the man?

Abortion: “You have to ban it …. there has to be some form of punishment.” [MSNBC, March 2016]

‍Banning Muslims: “Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” [Reading his own prepared statement, December 2015]

‍Climate Change: “I don’t believe in climate change.” [CNN, September 2015]

Debt: “I would borrow knowing that if the economy crashed, you could make a deal.” [CNBC, May 2016]

‍EPA: “We are going to get rid of it in almost every form. We’re going to have little tidbits left.” [Debate, March 2016]

‍Fighting protesters: “Knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously. OK? Just knock the hell – I promise you, I will pay the legal fees.” [Rally, February 2016]

‍Guns: “I will get rid of gun-free zones in schools …. My first day, it gets signed, OK? My first day. There’s no more gun-free zones.” [Campaigning, January 2016]

‍Hillary Clinton: “Frankly, if Hillary Clinton were a man, I don’t think she’d get 5 percent of the vote. The only thing she’s got going is the women’s card.” [News conference, April 2016]

‍Immigration: “Anyone who has entered the United States illegally is subject to deportation …. Our enforcement priorities will include removing … millions of recent illegal arrivals.” [Speech, August 2016]

‍Judges: “Maybe we use Judge Scalia as the ultimate example of what we’re looking for, OK?” [Values Voter Summit, September 2016]

‍Ku Klux Klan: “I don’t know anything about David Duke. OK? I don’t know anything about what you’re even talking about with white supremacy or white supremacists … did he endorse me or what’s going on, because, you know, I know nothing about David Duke. I know nothing about white supremacists.” [CNN, February 2016]

‍Lying: “ISIS is honoring President Obama. He’s the founder of ISIS. He’s the founder of ISIS. He’s the founder. He founded ISIS.” [Rally, August 2016]

‍Mexico: “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending the best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems …. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bring crime. They’re rapists.” [Campaign announcement speech, June 2015]

‍Nukes: “I think, for me, nuclear is just the power, the devastation is very important to me.” [Debate, December 2015]

‍Oil in Iraq: “You know, it used to be to the victor belong the spoils. Now, there was no victor there, believe me. There was no victor. But I always said: Take the oil.” [Commander-in-Chief Forum, September 2016]

‍Periods: “You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her… wherever.” [After being questioned by Megyn Kelly, August 2015]

‍Quality of life: “Immigration security is national security …. This isn’t just a matter of terrorism, but also quality of life.” [Rally, September 2016]

‍Refugees: “I’m putting people on notice that are coming here from Syria as part of this mass migration, that if I win, they’re going back …. They could be ISIS.” [Rally, September 2015]

‍Stop-and-frisk: “I would do stop-and-frisk. I think you have to. We did it in New York, it worked incredibly well.” [Sean Hannity town hall, September, 2016] (Ed note: The practice is unconstitutional.)

‍Torture: “Would I approve waterboarding? You bet your ass I would – in a heartbeat. And I would approve more than that …. Believe me, it works. And you know what? If it doesn’t work, they deserve it anyway.” [Rally, November 2015]

‍Unemployment: “What do you have to lose by trying something new like Trump? …. You’re living in poverty … you have no jobs … What the hell do you have to lose?” [Speech to black voters, August 2016]

‍Vladimir Putin: “If he says great things about me, I’m going to say great things about him … very much of a leader … the man has very strong control over a country.” [Commander-in-Chief Forum, September 2016]

‍War Crimes: “The other thing with the terrorists is you have to take out their families, when you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families.” [Fox and Friends, December 2015]

‍Xenophobia: “[Clinton] doesn’t know what she’s doing except open borders and let everybody come in and destroy our country.” [Speech, September 2016]

‍Yes men: “They won’t refuse. They’re not going to refuse me. If I say do it, they’re going to do it.” [On making military leaders follow illegal orders, March 2016]

‍Zika: “You have a great governor who’s doing a fantastic job – Rick Scott – on the Zika …. He’s going to have it under control, he probably already does.” [Interview, August 2016] (Ed note: On August 19th, the CDC warned of Zika transmission in a 1.5-square-mile area of Miami Beach. By September 17th, that area had grown to 4.5 square miles.)

“Anybody of wealth or even modest wealth who doesn’t have a prenuptial agreement is mentally retarded, okay?”

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