Earlier this week, while holding a press conference in Ise-Shima Japan, Barack Obama took another opportunity to give his take on the Donald Trump candidacy, something that’s become all too commonplace of late. “They are paying very close attention to this election, I think it’s fair to say that they’re surprised by the Republican Nominee” Obama stated, while speaking as to how world leaders view Donald Trump’s surge to the top of the Republican ticket. This is of course not particularly surprising, considering the majority of Americans seemed surprised by Trump’s dominance over the established Republican candidates. Both parties, Democrat and Republican, have underestimated Trump’s self marketing skills, political knowledge and connection with a huge portion of the American electorate from the outset, and evidently this applies to leaders throughout the world as well. Obama himself has stated on numerous occasions that Trump will not be President, following a long list of media members and established politicians who have made similar declarations for months, and by extension insulting all of Trump’s loyal supporters in the process.
Obama went on to explain not only how surprised other world leaders are by Trump’s run, but what the ramifications of a Trump presidency might be for the security of the world. “They are not sure how seriously to take some of his pronouncements, but they’re rattled by it, and for good reason, because a lot of the proposals he has made display either ignorance on world affairs, or a cavalier attitude” declared Obama. Obama wasn’t finished with his self righteous comments, as he continued to bad mouth the man who may be taking his office come November, finishing his cheap shot by bringing up Trump’s Twitter account and Trump’s interest in making the headlines apparently, “or an interest in getting tweets and headlines instead of actually thinking through what it is that’s required to keep America safe, secure and prosperous”.
Contrary to what Obama would like you to believe, Mr. Trump has made his views on foreign policy well known. For starters, Trump thinks it is critically important to acknowledge and/or use the term “radical Islamists” or “radical Islamic terrorists” (something Obama has not done during his seven and a half years as president) as he believes in order to properly address terrorist groups such as ISIS, you first must properly acknowledge who it is that’s committing barbaric and heinous acts.
Mr. Trump has also called for a temporary ban on all Muslims coming into the country until we understand and can monitor the current terrorist problem. Obama stated after the tragic Paris attacks that “99.9 percent of all Muslims” reject Islamic terrorism, a statistic which he seemingly pulled out of thin air.
In an extensive poll done by Pew Research, they surveyed nine Muslim dominated countries and found that only 57 percent of the citizens had an unfavorable view of Al-Qaeda, while 13 percent actually viewed them favorably. Approximately the same percentage claim they support the Taliban, and in Turkey, which is a member of NATO, 25 percent of muslims believe suicide bombings are sometimes justified. These statistics strongly counter Obama’s claim, but they also illustrate why so many Americans were upset by Obama’s dismissive nature with regard to acknowledging who may be at fault here with his refusal to use the term “radical Islamic terrorists”. Now Mr. Trump nor I in any way, shape or form believe the majority of Muslims are radicalized and dangerous, as it would be asinine to hold such a belief. However 13-25 pct of Muslims in Muslim dominated regions support terrorist groups or ideas. For Obama to be so dismissive of Trump’s call for a temporary ban and pretend there’s not a real issue, all in the name of political correctness, and do it in such a condescending manner, is beyond ignorant and shows a major disconnect with the many Americans.
Currently, Obama’s goal is to allow ten thousand Syrian refugees into the country by Sept.30, the end of the federal budget year. Of course there is no system in place to properly identify these refugees, as many come with no reliable form of identification. Trump argues this is extraordinarily dangerous, claiming it could allow refugee terrorists to sneak into the country, a very plausible concern. According to CNN, at least six of the terrorists in the Paris attack were Syrian refugees, giving weight to Trump’s logic that we shouldn’t be accepting refugees from Syria until we implement a reliable, near fool-proof system that makes things more secure for the United States.
Trump has also made his stance on illegal immigration very clear, as he believes it is crucially important that we strengthen our border in an effort to make it more difficult for illegal immigrants to come into our country- something illegal immigrants are currently doing at an excessive rate. Trump would implement a federal immigration plan that simply puts the best interests of the American people first, something Obama apparently can’t comprehend. Obama would like you to believe Trump’s stance on illegal immigration is preposterous and exceedingly offensive, while conveniently refusing to acknowledge that it is a real cause for concern.
Laura Wilkerson would certainly disagree with Obama’s downplaying of the current immigration problem, as her 18 year old son Joshua was tortured and killed by an illegal immigrant who allegedly came here as a minor. The 18 year old Wilkerson was tied up, doused with gasoline, and burned to death by 21 year old Hermilo Moralez, who would have been eligible for citizenship under Obama’s DREAM act. “Trump will get in there and do something about [immigration}, I believe him” Wilkerson explained after endorsing Trump. “So many people stay home because it doesn’t affect them. And I understand that. I was the same way until Josh was murdered. But at some point we have to close the door and deal with who we have here before anyone else comes”.
Then there is the case of Kate Steinle, a name Mr. Obama wants erased from your memory. Steinle was shot and killed on the San Francisco pier last summer by an undocumented illegal immigrant. Her killer was Juan Francisco Sanchez, a five time deportee. Yes, you read that correctly- she was killed by a man who was kicked out of the country and snuck back in FIVE times, pointing to our border as being anything but secure, despite what Obama would like you to believe. Kate’s parents and family were so outraged by this tragic and preventable event that they rightfully filed a wrongful death lawsuit against federal agencies, as well as the now former sheriff of San Francisco.
Now I am not one of these people who harbors a hatred for Barack Obama like so many of my Republican counterparts… not close. However, I do strongly disagree with a lot of his policies, his world view and his condescending rhetoric. In fact, I often chuckle when detractors point to the number of vacation days he has taken or tweet out pictures of him playing golf as a way of showing he is not fit to be president, while conveniently omitting the fact that former Republican President George W. Bush took twice as many vacation days while he held office. I also roll my eyes when people use his use of social media as a way of showing how out of touch with reality he is, whereas I find it to be one of the few ways in which he comes off as relatable.
Perhaps the thing that bothers me most is when his detractors point to his family of all things, claiming they don’t properly love America, as I personally have found them to be nothing short of an exceptional first family. Give me the Obama family over the Clinton’s any day of the week. Sorry. Can you imagine what the two Obama daughters have probably had to hear these past eight years, much the same way as Trump’s family has had to endure attacks on their father? I find the assault on Obama’s family to be highly offensive. It falls under the category of what I’ve defined to be “the lazy argument”, similar to the “Donald Trump is a racist” narrative that so many spout. We also could have done worse- we could have a criminal in office who puts our national security at risk or a socialist who’s totally out of touch with realistic economic policies.
These past few weeks, as Obama has gone on a “badmouthing tour” of Mr. Trump, do however expose his “I’m the smartest man in the room” syndrome… where he claims he knows better than you and may not be questioned, even if facts and reality contradict such a claim. This illustrates the point that he is no different than any other establishment politician and not all that different from the Republican establishment detractors.
You see-Barack Obama isn’t disconnected from the American people because he takes selfies with Steph Curry, or the way in which he tweets and often plays golf. I find these things relatable, if anything, as they “humanize” him. Mr. Obama is disconnected from the American people in the way in which he so easily dismisses a huge portion of the country’s valid concerns on many real issues, those which Trump wants to address. Obama might as well literally go up to me, Trump and all of his supporters, slap them in the face and say “No you’re wrong about everything. Illegal immigration isn’t a problem, Syrian refugees are no cause for concern, Islamic terrorism doesn’t exist, and you’re stupid for questioning me on this”… before jogging away with Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney, and Hillary Clinton.
Obama is following a long list of politicians completely thrown off their game by Trump, engaging in the type of behavior he’s routinely accused Mr. Trump of, as part of his reasoning Trump is not “suited” for office. The current President sounded anything but “presidential” earlier this week, questioning Trump’s suitability for office by pointing to his twitter timeline, as if that was relevant as to why Trump is dangerous. This is an illustration of just how desperate and rattled Obama, the Democratic party and the rest of the political class are by the prospects of a Donald Trump presidency.
Obama is essentially insinuating that Trump is not substantively exploring ways to protect our country because of the frequency with which he tweets, a tool Trump has used to his advantage from the start of his run, effectively pointing out corruption and the hypocrisy coming from the media, his own party and Obama’s own party. Trump has posted ideas on domestic policy, international security and social issues, evidence to strongly counter this claim. While many would argue Trump’s use of social media in this current election cycle of new age technology is both ingenious and effective, the current President evidently disagrees… or is disarmed by Trump’s strategy. Obama claims it to be proof that Trump is not paying close enough attention to the details of foreign policy, claiming he uses it merely as a way to make headlines, to compensate for not having substantive policies in place to insure our security. One might patently disagree here with Mr. Obama. The paragraphs above clearly stating Trump’s current take on world affairs and national security, as well as his rationale behind those stances certainly do.
Obama is obviously pedaling fear to the American voter base, implying that Trump would be dangerous, conveniently leaving out the fact that some world leaders may view the woman currently atop his party’s ticket, Hillary Clinton, as far more dangerous given her past incompetence regarding national security while Secretary of State during Obama’s first term. Clinton is currently under intense scrutiny for using her private server for highly classified emails and with regard to her handling of the Benghazi situation, an incident in which four American citizens were killed.
One must also wonder whether Obama views the liberal anti-Trump protestors wearing “Make America Mexican Again” shirts, spitting on Trump supporters, burning American flags and smashing police vehicles as being ignorant as well, or if that only applies to Trump.
The frequency with which Obama is trivializing Trump, and the condescending manner in which he is doing so, illustrates the fact that he realizes his own party is in trouble. Therefore, he deems it best to engage in as much damage control as possible, while condescendingly disparaging Mr. Trump. This strategy is reminiscent of Mitt Romney’s desperate Anti-Trump speech in Utah, where Romney sounded like a jilted lover who couldn’t accept the fact that someone else was being favored by the American people. It was both hypocritical in tone and deliverance, and extremely ineffective, something Obama should take note of.
The irony in all of this, is that Obama’s ineffectiveness on illegal immigration, and refusal to acknowledge the term “Radical Islamists” amongst many other issues, is arguably the main factor in propelling Trump to the top of the Republican party ticket, something that apparently has Obama flummoxed, illustrating perhaps better than anything else, just how disconnected Mr. Obama has become from a majority of the American people.
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