Introduction: It is no secret that throughout history, the Democrat and the Republican Parties of the United States’ political system have had their fair share of disagreements. But it seems that today, the two are more divided than ever and will never see any sort of unification for a long time. Social media, newspapers, and news media can be blamed, but the one man that is predominantly responsible for this divide is former U.S. President, Donald Trump.
Thesis: Depending on how one looks back at history, there is always a certain feeling about our past presidents, good or bad. In the case of Donald Trump, viewpoints are mixed but many can agree that he has been one of the more influential presidents of our time. Some say for the good, but not so much for the majority of Americans.
Evidence: Since the start of his presidential campaign run in 2015, Donald Trump had made a name for himself as a president with no filter and itchy Twitter fingers. A reputation that was first made famous in his candidacy announcement in June of 2015, in which he labeled Mexican immigrants as “rapists” who bring drugs and crime to our country.
This of course, led to a massive cult following. Consisting of those who have as much hatred for the oppositional party as the president himself and people who are susceptible to misinformation and lies.
On January 6th, 2021, That cult following got the message from their leader that they should “fight like hell” or else they “would not have a country.” It did not take long for the Trump supporting mob to show their violent side as they had insurrected the capitol building. Causing $1.5 million in damages and ensuing a massive assault amongst 140 police officers.
Conclusion: While events that are still going on are difficult to make an analysis, it should be noted that just because it is hard, that does not mean that it can never be learned. It is most important that an audience learns of this type of movement for when the citizens of this country look into their future, especially now considering that Trump will run for president again for 2024. Events like the Capitol Insurrection of January 6th are things that must be kept in mind when voting for the next presidential candidate, No questions asked.
Literature Cited:
Donald Trump “Announcement of Candidacy” 2015: https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU00/20191211/110331/HMKP-116-JU00-20191211-SD1001.pdf
CBS Sunday Morning “How Will History Judge Former President Trump?” 2022, Jan. 9th. www.youtube.com. Accessed October 25, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-HB0_94hMk.
Strandberg, Thomas, Jay A. Olson, Lars Hall, Andy Woods, and Petter Johansson. 2020. “Depolarizing American Voters: Democrats and Republicans Are Equally Susceptible to False Attitude Feedback.” Edited by Kimmo Eriksson. PLOS ONE 15 (2): e0226799. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0226799.
United States Department of Justice. 2021. “One Year since the Jan. 6 Attack on the Capitol.” www.justice.gov. December 30, 2021. https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/one-year-jan-6-attack-capitol.
