Trump supporters would be wise to avoid dodgy snake-oil salesmen

This will be printed after the United States election. Apologies for my condescending tone. I must comment on “The Case for Trump in 2020”.

The article regurgitated clichés, conspiracy theories, and liberty-threatening conjecture found on right-wing websites without context or fact-checking. They try to separate the crudeness of Trump from his policies. Shallow arguments, as political policy and outcomes create a more complex legacy not easily learned from computer screens.

Americans chose a conservative government in 2016. Donald Trump and a conservative Congress had every right to enact conservative policy. Conservative-leaning voters might want him re-elected for this alone. Many Germans supported Adolf Hitler because unemployment declined and roads were built.

Sadly though, the writers watch websites and pundits pushing dodgy, discredited conspiracy theories. They claim that Joe Biden has used his political influence for his and his son’s financial benefit. No self-respecting professional journalist has verified the assertion (reference New York Times 22 and 25 October 2020; Wall Street Journal 23 October 2020). Nevertheless, right-wing conspiracy theorists push this notion, and the more people hear that Biden is corrupt, the more they believe the false assertion. Hitler showed the modern world this trick before. The “mainstream media”, as these writers call it, doesn’t pursue conspiracy theories because they are professional journalists. Professional journalists look at a story, verify it, and if they smell a rat, drop it. Meantime, alt-right entertainers like Trump and Ben Shapiro repeat falsehoods. And, in time, these boys start to believe the nonsense.

Offensive to many Americans is the relentless attack on democratic institutions. The boys don’t understand that democracies are maintained by politicians’ honesty. President Trump has misused electoral trust for his own selfish means. He has directed the justice department and the national security apparatus to investigate his political foes. He has used homeland security to patrol streets and arrest political dissenters. He has encouraged armed militia when he has disagreed with local politics. He says he should lock up adversaries in public rallies all over the country.

He has separated children and families of Hispanic background and orphaned more than 500 children. I won’t point out where this happened before. No leader of a democracy should ever be elected with this behaviour – ever again!

These silly boys should reject the banality of the shameless website snake-oil salesmen. True leaders ask their followers to wear masks and keep a social distance in a pandemic. They put the public first and humble themselves against the problems the world faces. Real leaders remember to set a good example every day of their lives.