Donald Trump is a clear and present danger to our democracy, to the future of our planet and civilization itself, to a just society, and to human decency. He must be defeated.
Public Citizen is a nonpartisan organization. We very rarely weigh in on elections. But we can’t — and no one should — remain silent about the threat posed by Donald Trump.
If you’ve been getting our emails, you know that Public Citizen is constantly fighting the regressive policies and fascistic tendencies of Trump himself as well as those of other Trumpist politicians and corporate kingpins.
Here are some thoughts on just a few of the ways that Donald Trump is beyond unfit for office.
PROTECTING DEMOCRACY
Trump poses a fundamental peril to democracy. Defeated in his effort for re-election, he organized a failed coup and an insurrection.
In this election season, when too much of his outrageous conduct has been normalized or ignored, Trump has repeatedly talked about “the enemy within” — classic fascistic language.
He has proposed weaponizing government against his so-called enemies, including by deploying the military.
He has announced that he will claim fraud if he is defeated again.
And he proudly announced that he’d like to be dictator for a day.
If we believe in democracy — as a defining value of who we are and aspire to be as a nation, and as a system best designed to deliver fairness, justice, and prosperity — Donald Trump must be defeated.
AVERTING CLIMATE CATASTROPHE
The world is now in a race to avert climate catastrophe by undertaking a rapid and complete transition to clean, renewable energy.
The consequences of failure are almost too terrible to contemplate. They involve massive loss of life, food shortages, mass displacement, submersion of huge swaths of land, incalculable suffering especially for low-income people in poor and rich countries, and much, much more.
Against this earth science and public health reality, Trump mocks the very idea of climate change. He has promised to “terminate” the path-breaking clean energy investments of the Inflation Reduction Act.
Trump asked oil executives to give him $1 billion for his campaign, which he said would be a “deal” because of all the favors he would deliver to Big Oil in exchange.
At a time when protecting humanity demands intensifying the transition to clean energy, Trump promises to reverse course.
In defense of humanity and planetary well-being, Donald Trump must be defeated.
SAVAGE INEQUALITY
We are living through a period of savage wealth and income inequality, on par with the Gilded Age and the worst inequality in American history.
The richest country in the history of the world tolerates unconscionable poverty, economic stress, unequal health care, and much more.
As a nation, we make choices to tolerate poverty. By itself, the Expanded Child Tax Credit included in the COVID-era American Rescue Plan cut child poverty in America by half. When it expired after a year, the rate shot back up.
Donald Trump not only has no interest in investing to reduce inequality, he explicitly wants to increase it.
Having widened inequality with his tax cuts for corporations and the super-rich in his first term, Trump is planning still more tax giveaways to the super-rich.
Meanwhile, Trump’s Project 2025 proposes slashing programs that help the poor and working class — and Trump’s new-found buddy Elon Musk recommends even more severe measures.
Trump is — literally — of, by, and for the billionaire class.
If we care about even a modicum of economic justice, Donald Trump must be defeated.
THE CORPORATE AGENDA
The first Trump term featured the most extraordinary handover of the levers of government power to corporations in recent memory and probably all of American history.
A coal lobbyist ran the EPA. A pharma exec was in charge of the Department of Health and Human Services. A military contractor executive headed the Pentagon. A management lawyer ran the Labor Department.
And on and on.
These corporate-reps-in-government delivered for their patrons.
They rolled back regulations, stopped enforcing the law, gutted regulatory agencies, handed out giveaways and benefits to their corporate friends, and more.
The result was more pollution, more rip-offs and scams, more dangerous workplaces, and a lower quality of life for regular people.
Trump’s Project 2025 promises more of the same — only worse.
In the interest of health, safety, and justice, Donald Trump must be defeated.
THE CONFLICTED-IN-CHIEF
The only thing Trump really cares about is Trump.
We’ve never seen a president who sought to use the presidency as his own personal grift to the extent of Donald Trump.
We’ve never seen anyone so subject to undue foreign and corporate influence because of his personal business interests.
If we care about honesty and integrity, Donald Trump must be defeated.
STOKING HATRED
At no time in modern American history have we had a president who so overtly bases his appeal on stoking hate as Donald Trump does.
Trump’s first term was marked by gratuitous cruelty against immigrants. His campaign this time has been defined by a deranged xenophobia — and his second-term anti-immigrant plans are inhumane.
Trump does not conceal his racism, and his misogyny is deeply ingrained.
The problem goes beyond these disqualifying attitudes — they profoundly and systematically inform his policy instincts. They are reflected in everything from his anti-abortion policies to his proposal to give the police “one rough hour.”
All this hate creates a climate where ethnic, racial, and political violence is far more likely.
Trump doesn’t mind, because the violence stokes more fear and furthers his authoritarian agenda.
To advance love and decency — and to defeat hate and bigotry — Donald Trump must be defeated.
We could go on and on. At a time when warfare dominates the headlines and peace can feel out of reach, a second Trump term would be a foreign policy nightmare. There’s reproductive freedom. Trans rights. Health care. The preservation of Medicare and Social Security. Religious liberty for all who aren’t Christian nationalists. A science-based public health system not undermined by conspiratorial fantasies. And more, more, more.
EYES WIDE OPEN
Public Citizen has been fighting Trump for almost a decade now.
In his first term, we helped drive three cabinet secretaries from office.
We generated a major focus on Trump’s personal conflicts of interests and the corporate capture of his administration.
We won multiple lawsuits against the administration, including to force disclosure of the White House visitor log and to preserve a teen pregnancy prevention program.
We sued and forced the U.S. Postal Service to deliver ballots in a timely way.
And we helped lead massive mobilizations to hold Trump accountable, including to support both Trump impeachments. During the Trump administration, we built the Not Above the Law coalition and a network that ended up with more than a half a million people signed up to take to the streets in more than 1,500 cities — in a broad coalition that spanned labor, environmental, civil rights, women’s, LGBTQ, and many other organizations.
After Trump lost the 2020 election, we used our coalition to mobilize support for the prosecutions to hold him accountable for January 6 and his other criminal actions.
If the worst happens and Trump is reelected, we can promise you — we’ll be ready.
FOR JUSTICE
Over the next few days, we hope everyone will do whatever they can to work against Trump’s reelection.
Of course, defeating Donald Trump will not magically cure our nation’s problems or quash the neo-fascist forces he has unleashed.
But it is an absolute prerequisite to moving our nation forward to address its great challenges and make us the nation we should be.
It is, simply, imperative to defeat Donald Trump.
With just days to go before the most consequential election in our lifetimes, add your name if you agree that Donald Trump must not be president again.
Click to add your name now.
Thanks for taking action.
For the future of our country,
- Robert Weissman & Lisa Gilbert, Co-Presidents of Public Citizen
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