Did Donald Trump Divide America?

America’s division problems existed long before the Trump era.

We’ve been like that for awhile now; a conservative administration will push agendas, pass laws, and cast visions that will utterly inflame the liberal crowd. Vice versa when a liberal sits on the throne.

Division happens every time we have a president.

But did Trump go deeper than the average leader?

I get into way too many political “joustings” (as one of my friends likes to put it), arguing with people who will never change their minds, or listen to what I have to say with any real interest. I happily respond in kind.

In an attempt to sway one of my adversaries on a topic that’s utterly unforgettable at the moment, I read 20 Trump speeches prior to the 2020 election.

I noticed something that you won’t find in any presidential speech of the last 50 years, not with any regularity at least.

To illustrate, consider a few snippets from Trump’s Jan 6th address at the capitol:

You don’t concede when there’s theft involved

Our country has had enough. We will not take it anymore

We’re gathered together in the heart of our nation’s capital for one very, very basic and simple reason: To save our democracy.

They’ve used the pandemic as a way of defrauding the people in a proper election.

… our country will be destroyed and we’re not going to stand for that.

They’re weak Republicans [those that don’t support Trump], they’re pathetic Republicans and that’s what happens.

Democrats attempted the most brazen and outrageous election theft and there’s never been anything like this. So pure theft in American history. Everybody knows it.

…our election was so corrupt that in the history of this country we’ve never seen anything like it.

We will not be intimidated into accepting the hoaxes and the lies that we’ve been forced to believe.

They want to indoctrinate your children. It’s all part of the comprehensive assault on our democracy…

These people are crooked. They’re 100%, in my opinion, one of the most corrupt.

The radical left knows exactly what they’re doing. They’re ruthless and it’s time that somebody did something about it.

…this is a criminal enterprise

This the most corrupt election in the history, maybe of the world.

…this is a matter of national security

They’re totally breaking the law.

If Trump’s right about all of this, God bless him and those faithful Americans who’ll take a stand for righteousness. If he’s wrong, according to the Merriam Webster dictionary, this is hate speech:

 

 

 

 

I’ve written previously about the veracity of Trump’s 2020 election claims.

Fraud. Theft. Indoctrination. Criminal. Weakness. Destruction. Crooked. Ruthless. Corrupt. Law Breakers. Unprecedented in all of human history – all perpetrated, ironically, by those who don’t support Donald Trump.

In his defense, hate speaking is a time-honored method for solidifying one’s base; Trump’s not the first one to deploy it. Simply convince your supporters that a certain group is destroying their country, leave out any evidence to the contrary, then, poof, you have an army that’s too emotional to listen to anyone but you.

You might say that I’m reaching to far in my “hate speech” allegations, but in no arena does this kind of language lead to anything but chaos. Imagine a CEO who convinces one half of his employees that the other half is trying to destroy the company, or a parent who convinces one of her kids that the other kid is trying to tear the family apart.

Chaos.

Divsion.

The people who agree with you will love you, call you “hero” and “great leader.” How many times has history shown us where this road ends?

“Every divided kingdom, and every divided city or house will not stand.” ~ a not-so-evangelical-Jewish-carpenter

Is Trump an evil person? Does he want to destroy America? Is national division his endgame? I don’t think so. It’s not my place to postulate on the reasons why he so frequently and consistently employs speech that only results in more division.

And more hatred.

Either way, if he’s elected again, you can expect even more, one of the many reasons why I won’t be voting for him.

Since January 6th, Trump has delivered many speeches filled with this kind of language. He delivered many others throughout his term as president.

Trump’s use of hate speech has no precedent in my adult life. Go and read 20 Biden speeches, or Obama, Bush, et al. You’ll find critiques, frustrations with the other side, maybe an occasional hateful use of the english language. But you’ll find nothing that matches the frequency and regularity of Donald Trump.

Nobody will argue that our country is more divided than we’ve ever experienced. What you’ll find in the middle of this mess is a president who has spent a significant part of his speaking moments inciting his followers to hate anyone who is not a Trump supporter.

Did he divide America?

Hate speech has one goal; forceful actions that disregard freedom and ignore any further attempts at negotiation, listening, etc. Leaders who employ it are either right, or completely unfit for leadership.

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