I remember exactly where I was the moment I found out about the 2016 election results. I was in my  bedroom, dreaming my innocent 9 year old dreams. My mother woke me up in the middle of the night. Her tear stained face stared down at me. I smiled as I stared at her, not fully awake. Sadly she looked at me and replied “Trump won.” My smile instantly faded. She stayed with me, well into the night as we cried in my bed together…

I remember the start of his presidency  vividly. I was home sick the day he was inaugurated. My grandparents and I sat on their couch, terrified for the future of our country. My family is extremely liberal, but Trump was like no Republican we had ever seen. We had no idea of the pain and suffering that would follow in the next four years.

For the next four years, he became the center of every news story, every discussion around the dinner table. As I started to get older, I began to understand more of the crimes he was actively committing. Despite being alive for the  majority of Barack Obama’s time in office, I never really paid attention to what was going on in his administration. During Donald Trump’s presidency, I began paying attention to the news. My family was constantly talking about what was happening, so one day I just started listening.

During the four years of his presidency, each morning the world woke up to a breaking news headline involving him.  Other presidents have never ended their time in office with 2 impeachments and an insurrection under their name, all except for Donald Trump.

From the campaign trail to the oval office, Donald Trump’s political career was nothing short of dark and disastrous. You would think that there would be something in place to prevent this from happening. You would think that a man who has caused such terror and such mass destruction would not be allowed to have such copious amounts of power. The danger our country would be in if he is reelected will be indescribable.

•        If previous knowledge does not serve as an indicator, here is what a presidency under Donald Trump looked like:
• Tampering with election results
• Tried to abolish healthcare for those who needed it
•  Encouraged violence through racism, sexism, homophobia and discrimination of all kind
•  Imprisoned small children in cages
•  Separated families at the border and never helped them reunite
• Ignored the Coronavirus pandemic while people were actively dying across the country
• Encouraged people to drink bleach
• Eliminate all climate change laws and NATO
• Embarrassed America on a global level
• Put America at a national security risk
• Became friends and looked up to dictators
• Assured people safety and higher pay and then failed to ever actually help them
• Openly embraced, supported and associated with white supremacy groups such as the Proud Boys
• Convinced people that the 2020 election was “stolen”, when the results were accurate
• Is the only sitting President to be impeached from office twice
• Planned to overthrow the government
• Incited a violent mob of his supporters to storm and invade the United States capital to prevent the 2020 election results from being ratified
• Waited three hours before calling off the violent mob
• Smuggled important secret documents out of the White House to his house
• And lastly this weekend, told people to not believe and follow the constitution

Since the beginning of his time in office, lawyers wanted nothing more than for him to testify in court. As his list of charges grew, the more time he spent running from the law. He has denied subpoenas and has yet to actually take accountability for his crimes. In an article from the New York Times, it heavily details investigations Donald Trump is currently under. At the time of writing, Trump is currently being investigated for at least five crimes. He is being investigated for the insurrection, among many of his other previous charges.

Donald Trump was a dangerous individual to elect in the first place. He was never qualified to be president and should never have been elected in 2016. Now that he has been given a taste of power, he will stop at nothing to receive more of it. He wants to be the only individual in this country to retain power. His ideas are similar to those of a dictatorship,his morals no where to be found.

If re-elected the damage and danger that could be caused would be unthinkable. As a nation we were barely able to get out of his term. Truthfully it is horrifying to think of what will happen if we have a second term with him in charge. Congress is attempting to ban him from running again. However, if this motion is not passed, he would be allowed to legitimately run for re-election. His promises are false and are nothing more than lies. After his horrendous time in office, you would think it is obvious that he should not be given any power. The only thing Donald Trump needs is a prison sentence.

If you would like a further look into what happened during the Trump White House, here are links that go into further detail about his time in office.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/01/18/trump-presidency-administration-

biggest-impact-policy-analysis-451479
https://millercenter.org/president/trump/key-events

**This opinion article reflects the voice of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of The Viking Times as a whole. Like most news outlets, The Viking Times is a non-partisan media platform.***