Scary how many people want to double down on this guy...

Sep 7, 2020, 12:08 PM

‘I Keep My Promises,’ Trump Said. Let’s Check.

Here’s a report card on whether the president met his 2016 campaign pledges.

By Nicholas Kristof
Opinion Columnist

Four years ago as a candidate, President Trump made more than 280 campaign promises. Let’s see how he did:

“I will build a great, great wall on our southern border …” (speech, June 16, 2015)

While Trump so far has built 307 miles of walls along the 1,984-mile border, much of this replaces previous barriers that were dilapidated or blocked only vehicles.

“… and I will have Mexico pay for that wall.”

Mexico is not paying for it. The new wall is costing about $30 million per mile and will be expensive to maintain, for human smugglers have cut open the wall with $50 cordless saws.

“We will find them [all undocumented immigrants], we will get them out.” (CNN interview, July 29, 2015)

Trump deported about 750,000 undocumented immigrants in his first three years in office, but most were trying to get into the country, not already living here. He never tried to remove all undocumented immigrants. He did unleash a reign of terror directed at migrants, including separating young children from family members, and that may be one reason the total number of undocumented immigrants fell slightly. Still, Trump actually deported fewer people in his first three years than Barack Obama had — a comparison neither man will appreciate.

“We will also be a country of law and order. … The crime and violence that today afflicts our nation will soon, and I mean very soon, come to an end. Beginning on Jan. 20 of 2017, safety will be restored.” (speech, July 21, 2016)

Trump himself implicitly acknowledges that he has failed to create law and order, saying, “There is violence and danger in the streets” (speech, Aug. 27, 2020). Periodically, he incites that violence.

“The most basic duty of government is to defend the lives of its own citizens. Any government that fails to do so is a government unworthy to lead.” (speech, July 21, 2016)

The United States has lost more than 185,000 people to the coronavirus pandemic. On a per-capita basis, that’s more than twice as many as Canada and five times as many as Germany. America has 4 percent of the world’s population and 22 percent of the world’s confirmed Covid-19 deaths.

“We’re going to work with all of our students who are drowning in debt to take the pressure off these young people.” (speech, July 21, 2016)

Trump has sought to alter the terms of student loan repayments so that students would have to pay an additional $200 billion over a decade. He also attempted to cancel the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

“We will repeal and replace disastrous Obamacare.” (speech, July 21, 2016)

Trump has not succeeded in repealing the Affordable Care Act, although he is still pursuing a lawsuit that would overturn it. He has never explained what would replace it.

“You’re going to have great health care at a much lower price. It will cost the United States nothing.” (remarks, July 27, 2018)

Partly because of Trump’s assaults on the Affordable Care Act, the number of uninsured people in the United States has risen for the first time in a decade. An additional 400,000 children are without insurance.

“I will be the greatest jobs president that God ever created.” (speech, June 16, 2015)

Job creation continued during the Trump administration at roughly the same rate as in the Obama administration, but the pandemic ended that. There are now almost five million fewer Americans with jobs than when Trump took office. In raw numbers, this is the worst jobs record of any modern president.

“It is time to drain the swamp in Washington, D.C. This is why I’m proposing a package of ethics reforms to make our government honest once again.” (remarks, Oct. 17, 2016)

Eight of Trump’s associates have been charged with or convicted of crimes. Nonpartisan ethics watchdogs have repeatedly accused Trump and members of his administration and his family of serious ethics violations, and the Manhattan district attorney suggested last month that he was investigating Trump and his company for “possibly extensive and protracted criminal conduct.”

“I’m going to put in … great conservative judges.” (remarks, March 20, 2016)

(DING DING DING! Finally we have a winner!)

Trump has appointed conservative (and young) judges across the federal bench, and this will be a major element of his legacy. He was helped by the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, who blocked Obama from filling vacancies; Trump thus inherited an unusually large number of positions to fill.

“We will honor the American people with the truth, and nothing else.” (speech, July 21, 2016)

Trump has made more than 20,000 false or misleading statements since assuming office, by the count of The Washington Post.

“We will build the roads, highways, bridges, tunnels, airports and the railways of tomorrow.” (remarks, July 21, 2016)

Trump never tried to pass an infrastructure bill.

“We’re going to cut taxes for the middle class. … We will ensure that the benefits are focused on the middle class, the working men and women, not the highest-income earners.” (speech, Sept. 27, 2017)

Trump did pass a tax cut, but it was focused on the wealthy. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center estimated that for the 2018 tax year, 20 percent of the benefits would go to the top 1 percent, and that by 2027, 82 percent of the benefits would go to the top 1 percent.

“We’ve got to get rid of the $19 trillion in debt. … I could do it fairly quickly … over a period of eight years.” (interview, March 31, 2016)

The debt has surged and may soon be larger than the American economy for the first time since 1946. That’s partly because of his tax cut for the wealthy and partly because of Covid-19.

flag link

military_tech

thumb_down

thumb_up

Trump's record, by any rational measure, is a train wreck. On the issues Trump gets killed, mostly because as you've pointed out he's accomplished absolutely nothing he said he was going to do, he has nothing resembling coherent policies on most things, and on the policies he does actually have, they're terrible - kids in cages and full-fledged assaults on the rule of law, the Constitution, and human decency. The RNC declined to even put forth a platform this year, then marched out every Trump family member - including little Tiffany, aw, sweet - and the girlfriends of family members who then one and all proclaimed what a Truly Great Man their Dad was.

Pretty obvious what the GOP is selling right now: Trump and more Trump. That's it. That's all.

It's a cult of personality, and cults of personality have absolutely nothing to do with logic or reason, much less platforms or policy. They're all about successfully selling the notion that there is a wicked outside world of unwashed baby-eating cannibals coming for you and your loved ones and Great Max X (insert name here) is the only one strong enough, wise enough, capable enough to hold the barbarian horde at bay.

And 42% of Americans, regrettably, still seem to be buying it. Dunno what there is left to say at this point.

Scary how many people want to double down on this guy...

Let's list Biden's list of accomplishments in 40+ years of

Crime Bill to put black people in jail?***

Here you go.

Re: Here you go.

Re: Let's list Biden's list of accomplishments in 40+ years of

He introduced the bill that became the

Re: Scary how many people want to double down on this guy...

Re: Scary how many people want to double down on this guy...

Trump's one major accomplishment was due to the Senate

I can name a second accomplishment.

Re: Scary how many people want to double down on this guy...

Re: Scary how many people want to double down on this guy...

Re: Scary how many people want to double down on this guy...

Re: Scary how many people want to double down on this guy...

TigerBoard POTD