Every citizen expects some benefit from voting in a presidential election. Trump’s support of racially divisive policies would be enough to warrant the vote by Blacks for the Biden-Harris ticket. But even beyond that, Trump’s ineptitude as president would be enough to induce Blacks and other Americans to displace the present occupant of the White House.
One major mistake was for Trump to fail to assert national leadership over controlling the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic. So far there have been more than 8,617,000 infections as well as 224,601 deaths. The U.S. has one of the highest death rates in the world when calculated as a percentage of the population. Experts agree that with competent leadership, Americans would not have had to suffer such a toll from the pandemic.
Trump asserted from the beginning, when the disease was first recognized, that involvement with such matters was a responsibility of state governors. However, a pandemic that was indiscriminately crossing state borders became by definition a national problem and the responsibility of the president.
As a consequence of not managing Covid-19, the economy has deteriorated. Unemployment has increased, small businesses have collapsed and others on the brink of collapse have had to shut down to comply with local regulations. Many families now find it difficult to pay rent and put food on the table. As a result of losing their jobs, they also lose their health insurance.
Trump has promised if he wins to end the Affordable Care Act and replace it with an as yet unspecified or proposed program that he insists will be less expensive and more preferable. But while Trump asserts that he supports insurance coverage for those with pre-existing conditions, he is now in court trying to end that provision in the present health care law. There is little confidence that Trump has the interests of the people at heart.
When Trump ran for office four years ago, he promised to “drain the swamp.” Many voters were tired of the excessive influence on government of the well-paid lobbyists. But rather than restricting the system, he has expanded it to include the Trump family directly through payments made to Trump hotels and golf clubs.
Now it appears that the problem has become even worse. In the past, candidates for president and other high office had been required to disclose their tax reports. One reason for this was to enable the public to know whether there were any financial arrangements that might cause some difficulty for the president. Trump refused to comply with this process and his supporters were happy not to require it.
However, the disclosure of Trump’s taxes in the New York court investigation indicates a huge debt of $400 million that could potentially compromise U.S. negotiations with a foreign country. The disclosure also revealed that Trump, an alleged billionaire, paid only $750 in federal taxes in each of the last two years.
The many defaults stated above should be enough to induce even thoughtful stalwart Trump supporters to lose confidence in his leadership. But surprisingly, the Trump base is still substantial. What benefit do they perceive from his leadership?
Few prominent public leaders openly support racist causes. However, since the neo-Nazi demonstration in Charlottesville, Virginia on Aug. 11 and 12, 2017, Trump became reinforced in his support for the radical right. This is a path he began earlier with his “birther” protest against Barack Obama.
So America has a defiant and unpatriotic bloc that endures the ravages of incompetent leadership in order to oppose equality for Blacks.
