From rhetoric to policies, I examine how Donald Trump has brought division and inequality to the United States before the 2024 United States presidential elections.

Introduction: As Fair As An Opponent Can Be

Some people choose not to speak about politics, which can be a sign of comfort with the current system. While people shouldn’t feel pressured to discuss things they don’t understand, it is a privilege to belong to a system that serves one so well that they do not need to consider alternatives. At the same time, I’ve seen a lot of anger surrounding people wanting to change their opinions. There is nothing wrong with collecting facts, growing, and admitting to being wrong in the past. With that being said, this is a chance to grow.

The following list is an overview of public comments and actions taken by Donald Trump toward various individuals and groups over the years. It is compiled for the people who continue to support him despite being the first U.S. president indicted of felony crimes (34 in total) in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election — actions viewed as harmful to democratic principles.

I write this for those who may overlook some actions of Donald Trump in favor of other policies they believe benefit them, perhaps because they misguidedly think he can control the gas and food prices and will somehow look out for middle and lower Americans. (Although his policies and promises only ever seem to support the wealthy.) At the same time, I write this for accountability, because as Trump’s recent trials showed, no one should be above the law.

But first, I will acknowledge why people like Trump. To those who like him — enough to elect him at least one time — he provided appeal as a bold outsider who challenged a political system that was exhausting many. Trump was willing to disrupt norms, speak his mind, offer blunt truths, and seemingly fight against what many saw as an overly bureaucratic and corrupt government. Trump was someone with no political background — an actor and businessman disrupting Washington.

While I haven’t remembered this image of Trump in quite some time, it’s important to consider both sides. With this in mind, I am going to lay out the facts with both points of view in consideration for a more fair discussion. So here is Donald Trump’s record of controversial actions and rhetoric. Afterward, I’ll leave it up to the reader to decide if the following list makes Trump a worthy leader for the United States of America and its many diverse citizens.

Donald Trump’s Alleged Crimes Against Women

One major group that Trump has allegedly targeted both physically and through language and policies is women. As of September 14, 2014, 26 women have accused Donald Trump of sex crimes including sexual assault and sexual misconduct. (Trump has consistently denied these allegations.)

While some supporters of Trump immediately accuse over two dozen women of lying, numbers suggest otherwise. The National Library of Medicine analyzed 136 cases of sexual assault reported over 10 years to conclude that the prevalence of false allegations is between 2% and 10%. So while false allegations of sexual assault can occur, they are rare.

Furthermore, Trump was found liable for sexual abuse in civil court against E. Jean Carroll. It’s difficult to comprehend how all of these women are lying — especially when Trump himself has repeatedly said lewd, offensive, and sexist comments directed at women. (Who can forget his infamous “grab ’em by the pussy” line?!) Meanwhile, the pressure and fear to come forward about rape should be understood, as is the reality that many women did not become public about the abuse they experienced until the prevalence of the Me Too movement.

The Trump administration also consistently introduced policies that many saw as threatening women’s rights, issuing dozens of regulations that threatened women’s progress, such as repealing Obama-era workplace protections for women and reducing accountability for companies that violated equal pay laws. Meanwhile, Trump is still boasting about appointing the Supreme Court Justices who reversed Roe v. Wade, effectively stripping women in the United States of reproductive freedom.

Donald Trump’s Racism Against Numerous Groups

Trump’s controversial behaviors extend to his treatment of minority groups, as he has also come for many groups through not just his words but also his policies — including Black Americans, Hispanics and Latino Americans, Asian Americans, Indigenous Americans, and immigrants and asylum seekers in the United States.

Donald Trump’s Racism Against Black Americans

Trump infamously fueled racial tensions in New York following the 1989 assault of a New York jogger in Central Park when he took out full-page ads in major city newspapers arguing for the death penalty of those responsible, the Central Park Five — five Black and Hispanic teen boys who were falsely accused and later exonerated.

Even after they were found innocent, Trump continued to falsely accuse the men in numerous cases over the years. Trump continues to have controversial treatment of Black communities, while he’s been accused of taking credit for the policies of others that benefit people of color in the United States. (More on Trump’s treatment of people of color later.)

Donald Trump’s Racism Against Latino and Hispanic Americans

Trump officials infamously blocked Puerto Rico from receiving hurricane aid in a very controversial move, while they also obstructed an investigation looking into why the U.S. territory was being deprived of congressionally approved funds.

For more information on Trump’s treatment of Latino and Hispanic Americans, I encourage you to check out this essay examining the effects of racism experienced by Latinos in the Trump era. It can be said that Trump’s words and policies ignited racism and xenophobia for virtually all minority groups in the United States — certainly those belonging to these groups.

Donald Trump’s Racism & Xenophobia Toward Asian Americans

Trump’s rhetoric has also been accused of Asian hatred to create a sense of fear and Othering, as Trump painted a clear depiction of the East being a threat to the West and infecting Westerns with the virus. Overall, anti-Chinese sentiment increased exponentially during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in a considerable spike in overt violence and hatred directed at Asian Americans — something that Trump may not have caused but seemingly only fueled.  

Donald Trump’s Attacks on Indigenous Americans

Trump additionally had a historically poor record on Indigenous affairs even before taking office in 2017. Unfortunately for Indigenous Americans, they only continued to experience land and sovereignty issues with him as president. Trump issued a series of memos and executive orders within his first year of office that repealed protections for land and wildlife for a group of people already historically brutalized and marginalized.

Trump’s policies regarding Indigenous Americans unfortunately went far beyond land protection rollbacks. The approval of projects like the Dakota Access Pipeline threatened Native sovereignty and environmental safety. As Trump places a heavy focus on American values and keeping America for Americans, it’s unfortunate to see his treatment of the people native to the land.

Donald Trump’s Xenophobia and Anti-Immigrant Policies

Meanwhile, Trump has made it very clear where he stands when it comes to Mexican immigrants, presenting a zero-tolerance approach to illegal immigration under the Trump administration with the family separation policy that was adopted across the entirety of the US-Mexico border from April to June 2018. Supporters of Trump have supported his tough immigration stance, including his initial promise to build a border wall. In fact, he appealed to voters concerned about national security and appealed to a desire to preserve “American identity.”

However, this policy was extremely controversial, as federal authorities separated children and infants from their parents and guardians who illegally entered the US. The adults were held in federal jails or deported while the children were placed under the care of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The highly controversial policy removed thousands of children and infants, with many still not reunited with their families.

The Trump administration has also taken measures to end asylum. Trump and his administration took a very clear stance against asylum seekers, again painting a clear picture of what they consider to be the threat of the Other to American safety. (It’s important to note that some of his supports back his stance on this.)

Trump continues to perpetuate fear, hatred, xenophobia, and dangerous misinformation regarding immigration (legal and illegal) as of this very week, as he took the stage during ABC’s presidential debate to repeat a baseless claim about Haitian immigrants eating pets in a now-viral video.

Donald Trump’s Attack on Religious Groups

Trump hasn’t stopped at insulting genders or minority groups — and backing up his marginalization with policies. He’s also attacked religions and fueled hatred and ignorance, chiefly with Islamophobic and antisemitic comments.

Donald Trump’s Islamophobia

Trump has a storied history of what some have dubbed bigotry and hate against Muslims, including the infamous Muslim Ban. Then-President Trump signed an executive order banning people from six Muslim-majority countries from entering the USA back in 2017 as he shut the door on refugees in an extremely controversial move that the Supreme Court eventually overturned.

Donald Trump’s Antisemitism

Donald Trump also has a long history of antisemitic tropes, including his recent claims that Jewish people who vote for Democrats “hate Israel” and “hate their religion.” The White House criticized the former president for what was dubbed “vile and unhinged antisemitic rhetoric.”

Donald Trump’s Homophobia and Anti-LGBTQIA+ Policies

Trump is also an infamous threat to the LGBTQ+ community, a claim that is backed by his policies. In June 2017, then-President Donald Trump announced through a series of tweets that transgender individuals would no longer be allowed to serve in the U.S. military. This highly controversial policy came three years after the Obama administration told transgender individuals they could serve openly with access to gender-affirming medical and psychological care.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has also accused Trump of rolling back protections and criminalizing gender nonconformity to “define ‘transgender’ out of existence.” This includes eroding protections for transgender students and workers and healthcare rollbacks such as weakening access to gender-affirming healthcare.

Donald Trump’s Harmful Economic & Environmental Policies

In addition to all of the groups Trump has overtly singled out, insulted, or directly harmed or marginalized through his policies, some policies have harmed the environment and specific socioeconomic classes. For example, then-President Trump announced on June 1, 2017, that the United States would cease all participation in the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation. Many considered this a major blow to environmental protection, though some Trump supporters agreed with the highly controversial move.

Meanwhile, Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act had a direct impact on different socioeconomic and minority groups. Although it was promoted as benefitting all, it disproportionately favored the wealthy and led to a temporary boost in growth before the national debt ballooned exponentially. Trump’s economic policies had mixed impacts. Although unemployment for minority groups dropped during the pre-pandemic years, this could be credited to part of a longer trend stemming from the Obama administration. Additionally, the cuts reduced funding for social programs that disproportionately affected low-income families and communities of color.

For more examples of the harm caused by Trump’s policies, check out this article “50 reasons the Trump administration is bad for workers” to see just how much Trump’s policies benefit the average American. Unfortunately, the temporary boost in the economy during his administration (before the ballooning of the national debt) led to some Trump supporters thinking he would help the average American — although his tax cuts can continue to hurt the poor if he is re-elected in the 2024 election.

For an unbiased addition to the conversation, Trump’s corporate tax cuts, deregulation, and trade policies, such as renegotiating NAFTA into USMCA, have resonated with those who believed these would revitalize American industries and protect jobs. Trump also signed the First Step Act into law, which aimed to reduce overly harsh sentences, especially for nonviolent offenders. This act received bipartisan support and led to the early release of thousands of people from federal prison.

Donald Trump’s Falsehoods & Misinformation

Despite not having a completely blemished track record, one of the most chilling aspects of Donald Trump is that in addition to all of the accusations, convictions, recorded hate speeches, and damaging policies, is the fact that he can’t stop lying. A report from The Washington Post in 2020 found that Trump’s false or misleading claims totaled a whopping 30,573 over his 4 years in office. 

This number is not even counting what happened in the last 4 years — or the last presidential debate alone where Trump made claims that the Democratic Party was allowing abortions to take place after birth among a barrage of lies, falsities, and absurdities such as perpetrating the harmful lie about Haitian immigrants.

Closing Words: Why We Must Hold Donald Trump Accountable

Even if you don’t belong to any of the marginalized groups Trump has targeted, I urge you to care. We cannot afford complacency when freedom and equality for all Americans are at risk. Trump’s harmful actions, policies, and rhetoric are often targeted against groups that are marginalized and already facing discrimination. His fever to protect American values often only protects the values of white America. But the United States is a melting pot of identities and a land of immigrants.

In realism, I am not apt to sway many or even any Trump voters. But I want there to be one more record of what this man did, another compilation coming from my small voice. This is why I attended the 2017 Women’s March in Los Angeles following Trump’s inauguration. I wanted to join history in making it known that we as a collective (peacefully) opposed this decision — though mind you, we did not illegally interfere with the results. While we accepted Trump as a leader, we did not honor his presidency. We formed a peaceful band of unity and opposition, a crowd of people demanding equality and championing the rights of each other.

As Albert Camus wrote in The Rebel, “Rebellion cannot exist without a strange form of love.” I love being a woman. I love being queer. I love being free. I do not want my freedom to continue to be stripped from me or my fellow Americans. A vote for Donald Trump is a vote against the freedom of all groups mentioned in this article. And I will always stand on the side of freedom for all groups even if my freedom is not a threat — the freedom to exist in one’s absolute authenticity without hate, violence, or unnecessary and invasive policing.

Continued Reading: An Ode to Spirit: How the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks Speak To Courage & Resilience