During his recent announcement of his candidacy for president, Bernie Sanders began by denouncing Donald Trump. We were told that we cannot afford to reelect our current leader because he is a pathological liar, as well as a racist, sexist, homophobe and xenophobe. But is this true?
Let’s begin with racism. When asked for evidence that Trump is a racist, liberals trot out two examples. One is what he said about Charlottesville. When he declared there were good people on both sides, he was allegedly asserting that the KKK and Nazis were good.
This is nonsense. I heard what he said. It was that there were good people on both sides of the confederate statue controversy. Given that I am one of those in favor of preserving the statues, I cannot endorse the liberal view that only they are good. As for the KKK and Nazis, Trump explicitly condemned them.
The second racial indictment against Trump is that he wants to close the southern border to keep brown skinned people out. This would be like saying that we went to war against the Japanese during World War II because they were yellow skinned.
While we were racist a half-century ago, we went to war because we were attacked. Today we are also being attacked. Caravans of Central Americans are determined to break through our defenses. They rush our borders, throw stones at border agents, and refuse to honor our laws. Ought they be granted immunity for these acts? If not, then trying to stop them is scarcely racist.
As for the charge of sexism, this rests on Trump’s history of womanizing. While I cannot condone his behavior, why were JFK, LBJ and Clinton exempt from accusations of being anti-women? All of them cheated on their wives. Could it be that they were given a pass because they were Democrats?
If we look instead at who Trump has hired for important jobs, the charge of being sexist disappears. He has long based whom he employs on their talents. This was so when he was in real estate. It was so at the United Nations with Nikki Haley and during his campaign with Kellyanne Conway.
Next he has been labeled a homophobe. Where this one came from, I have no idea. The fact that he tapped an openly gay man to be our ambassador to Germany was obviously left out of the calculation. To date, I have heard no homophobic slurs out of his mouth or seen discriminatory behavior in his actions.
The last accusation made by Bernie is that Trump is a Xenophobe. Its derivation is obvious. Our president takes pride in promoting America first. He wants us to defend our shores and obtain more jobs for American workers. In particular, he wants to withdraw from foreign wars.
This does not mean he hates non-Americans. While he isn’t an internationalist in the mold of George W. Bush, he believes in patriotism for all nations. Thus, when he engages in trade negotiations, he wants both sides to gain an advantage. His approach is not zero sum, but intended to enlarge the pie.
All right then, why did Sanders say what he did? If there is so little proof for his smears, why did he make them? Here too, the answer is obvious. Those who vote in Democratic primaries believe them. They hate Trump with a viciousness that blinds them to simple truths.
So let’s return to how Sanders started. He began by casually condemning Trump as a pathological liar. This implies that he lies all of the time. While I admit that Trump engages in hyperbole and is our most transparent president ever, outright lies are another matter.
In fact, the real liars are the liberals. Deceit is in their blood. It has to be. Their programs have so uniformly failed that the only way then can make them palatable is to bend the truth. ObamaCare is an example. It did not bring down costs or substantially increase the numbers receiving improved care.
Were this admitted, however, who would trust progressives to nationalize our entire healthcare system? Even though Barack Obama hiked the costs per family by thousands of dollars, Democrats have no difficulty in claiming that once they provide Medicare for all, prices will go down.
The real truth is that Democrats habitually project their failures on to their opponents. Whether this is in regard to education, crime, or foreign policy, the strategy is always the same. Having not had a single new idea in decades, they are forced to sully the reputations of those who might point this out.
So Bernie, please clean your socialist house before you cast aspersions on others.
Melvyn L. Fein, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus
Kennesaw State University
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