CONNOR HOFFMAN
Assistant News Editor
The President is supposed to be a person who can unite the nation and not cause division and violence. Donald Trump has made me quite worried lately with the hateful and violent energy at his rallies, and how he has dismissed — or even encouraged — this behavior.
Just the other day on March 29, Trump’s own campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, was charged with battery of a reporter named Michelle Fields. He did this after Fields tried to ask the presidential candidate a question, according to The New York Times.
The video of this event has been released, and it’s clear that Lewandowski did not act in the way he should have.
This is only one of countless examples of the crazy violence and thug-like behavior that has been happening at Trump’s events lately.
All this violent behavior really kicked off at an Oct. 14 rally when Trump supporters shoved protesters, took their signs, and one supporter even spat on a protester. On Oct. 24, a protester in Miami was knocked down and kicked by a supporter, according to Slate.
As the weeks progressed, these rallies kept getting more violent and dangerous. A protester at a rally in Alabama was punched, kicked and even choked on Nov. 21 according to The Washington Post. At a Dec. 11 rally in New York, several Muslim American protesters were forcibly ejected from a Trump rally, according to Slate.
This violence and hatred has continued to develop without any criticism or disapproval from Trump, and it has been a serious problem ever since February. A photographer was slammed to the ground at a February Virginia rally by a secret service agent for stepping outside of the press pen, according to CNN.
Then on March 11, there was a huge riot in Chicago between protesters and supporters after Trump refused to show up. This resulted in a very chaotic fight between them, and it required the police to break it up, according to CNN.
Trump has either downplayed, denied or even encouraged this violence when he has been questioned about it.
His responses to these mishaps really shows how he lacks the leadership, judgement and character necessary of a president.
Trump said that the protestors at the Nov. 21 rally “should have been roughed up,” according to The Washington Post. He has even said that he will pay for supporters legal fees for “knocking the crap out” of people who throw tomatoes at him, according to Yahoo News.
He has also called for protesters to be arrested. He even said he would like to punch a protester at a campaign rally in Las Vegas.
Trump decided to try to pin the blame on Sen. Bernie Sanders and accused him of arranging the protesters in Chicago rather than actually condemning or apologizing for the violence, according to CNN.
“At what point do people blame the protesters?” said Trump during an ABC News interview.
Trump has also completely denied that Lewandowski did anything wrong when he attacked Fields. If Trump had any integrity or morals, he would have fired Lewandowski immediately, because this nation can’t afford a Chief of Staff that acts the way he does.
Rather than doing just that, Trump has decided to defend Lewandowski by shifting the blame to Fields touching his arm, according to CNN.
This behavior is not at all how a possible future president should be acting. This behavior is more in line with how a third-world tyrant acts, not an American president.
I think that we need to start holding Trump accountable for his statements, or lack thereof, when these riots and violent outbursts occur. The media must hold him to his words and not give him a pedestal to deny everything.
My dedication to stopping Trump’s election grows stronger day by day as I see more of this chaos and nonsense.