The First White President

Right from the title, I found this article interesting because it claims that Trump is the first white president which is clearly not meant to be taken literally. It then goes on to explain how Trump’s presidency is founded off of his ideology of white supremacy and how he was elevated to the position despite his negative character due to his appeal to racists and white workers at the expense of minority groups. While the article does contain some half-truths, I strongly disagree with the way in which it utilizes ad-hominem attacks against Trump’s supposed character by constantly bringing up scandals and specific phrases Trump said rather than focusing on his actual policies and actions as president. The article constantly emphasizes race as being the only factor which won Trump the election, and while this may be partially true, it ignores all of Trump’s policies and campaign slogans which focus on other issues and automatically assumes Trump to be a racist white supremacist. Yet, such claims have weak evidence to support them and more importantly are not backed by Trump’s actions in office: his policies do not promote racism or favor whites over other citizens. His negation of Obama’s previous policies are due to differing ideologies between the two men, in which Trump is staunchly opposed to many of the policies Obama favored while in office such as affirmative action and creation of sanctuary cities. The article’s claim that Trump’s rise to presidency is based entirely on his appeal to whites and consequent criticism of him for being racist and a white supremacist is both extreme and illogical. In fact, the article even admits that it is understandable for politicians to embrace self-serving identity. Whites form the majority of citizens in America and working class citizens played a key role in many of the states Trump was campaigning in. To say that his attempts to appeal to white working class citizens takes advantage their inherent racism against blacks and feelings of universal whiteness is a misguided generalization which can be dangerous and divisive. Rather than focusing on the ways in which Trump’s policies designed to aid working class citizens and bring jobs back to America have been implemented in office, the article chooses instead to accuse Trump voters as supporting a white supremacist who’s entire campaign platform is based on the fact that he is white--something which is simply not true. The articles use of hyperbolic language and ad hominem attacks against Trump serve to divide rather than unite us under the president, who should be judged for his actions in office rather than the comments he makes. While I do agree with the article that Trump frequently makes non-presidential and crude comments, it is wrong to vilify him for simply his words rather than his actual leadership and decision-making abilities which are in the end the most important characteristics of a good president. Even the best and most respected leaders have multiple characters flaws: at the end of the day, a president’s legacy will come down to what he/she accomplished rather than how he/she got into office or certain remarks he/she may have made(disregarding perjury or any other illegal action, of course). Nearly a year later, I wonder if the columnists opinions have changed regarding Trump’s presidency in light of recent successes such as the nuclear deal with North Korea.