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What Trump Said and Why It Matters

• Kat Burgers

Anyone who is familiar with Etab Apparel, etc. knows that we were clear supporters of Bernie Sanders in the primary and Hillary Clinton the general election. The election results on Tuesday were quite a shock and, like many people, we experienced feelings of grief, sadness and incredible disappointment.

I try to limit the amount of political posts I put on my personal Facebook page because I don’t like to see the back and forth bickering that inevitably results. However, I did share the following post on my page a few days ago.

It was no surprise to me when a couple of my older, male relatives made comments on the post and the back and forth began. When I mentioned that I was “concerned for my many friends who face discrimination and the possible loss of their rights”, one of my relatives responses included “I don’t foresee them losing any rights. Anyone who wants to help me understand these fears please tell me specifically what rights you are afraid you will actually lose. Perhaps I am missing something. I do understand people being fearful based on what anti-Trump people were saying about him, but not based on what he actually said himself.” These statements shocked me. How could anyone not be aware of the many statements Trump has made that have struck fear in the hearts of millions of people? Perhaps this lack of information is the reason he was able to win the election. Perhaps people actually believed Trump when he repeatedly said “I never said that.” While it may be futile, I decided to take it upon myself to compile just a sampling of Trump’s statements and actions that have caused concern.

 

WOMEN’S CONCERNS

  • Trump has made many degrading and disgusting comments about women. How can women expect someone to fight for their equal rights, when his own statements show how little regard he holds for women. Some of the issues many women are concerned about are:
    • Equal pay for equal work
    • Reproductive choices
    • Sexual harassment in the workplace
    • Domestic abuse
    • Birth control options
    • Maternity leave rights
    • Breastfeeding in public
  • Below is a sampling of his statements that cause concern. Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-elections/donald-trump-sexist-quotes-comments-tweets-grab-them-by-the-pussy-when-star-you-can-do-anything-a7353006.html
    • “She is a dog who wrongfully comments on me.” (April 2015 tweet about Huffington Post editor Arianna Huffington.)
    • “Rosie O’Donnell is disgusting – both inside and out.  If you take a look at her, she's a slob. How does she even get on television? … If I were running The View, I'd fire Rosie. I'd look her right in that fat, ugly face of hers and say, 'Rosie, you're fired.' (2006 about Rosie O’Donnell, the comedian, after she called him a “snake-oil salesman”.)
    • "Can you imagine the parents of Kelli ... when she said, 'Mom, Dad, I just fell in love with a big, fat pig named Rosie'?  Can you imagine the expression on their face?" (2006 about Ms. O’Donnell and her then partner Kelli Carpenter, after Ms. O’Donnell responded to Mr. Trump by sarcastically calling him charming.)
    • “You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever” (August 2015, the day after Republican Primary debate moderator Megyn Kelly, of Fox News, told him “You’ve called women you don’t like fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals.”  He later said his talk of “blood coming out of her wherever” was a reference to her nose.) 
    • “I cherish women. I want to help women. I’m going to be able to do things for women that no other candidate would be able to do.” (August 2015, two days after making his remarks about Ms. Kelly.)
    • “Heidi Klum.  Sadly, she’s no longer a 10.” (Six days later, to the New York Times)
    • “It must be a pretty picture, you dropping to your knees”, (2013, to former Baywatch star and Playboy model Brande Roderick, on an episode of Celebrity Apprentice: All Stars.)
    • "It's certainly not groundbreaking news that the early victories by the women on The Apprentice were, to a very large extent, dependent on their sex appeal." (In his 2004 book How to Get Rich.) 
    • "All of the women on 'The Apprentice' flirted with me — consciously or unconsciously. That's to be expected. A sexual dynamic is always present between people, unless you are asexual." (In How to Get Rich.)
    • "Yeah" (2004 to the 'shock jock' Howard Stern after the DJasked: “By the way, your daughter.  Can I say this? A piece of a**.")
    • "A person who's flat-chested is very hard to be a 10, OK?" (September 2005, another interview with Stern.) 
    • “They said, ‘How are you going to change the pageant?’ I said ‘I’m going to get the bathing suits to be smaller and the heels to be higher’.” (After buying the Miss USA pageant in 1997) 
    • “She was like an eating machine”.  (1997 to Stern about Venezuelan-born Alicia Machado after she won the 1996 Miss Universe competition, owned by Mr. Trump.)
    • “This is someone who likes to eat,” (1997, posing with Ms. Machado at a staged gym session that he had organized for her.)  
    • “He called me Miss Piggy … Miss Housekeeping … I was 18, just a girl” (Ms. Machado, who has since gained US citizenship, in May 2016, in claims about her private interactions with Mr. Trump and how they contributed to her anorexia and bulimia.)  
    • "Did Crooked Hillary help disgusting (check out sex tape and past) Alicia M become a U.S. citizen so she could use her in the debate?" (Mr. Trump, September 2016, after Ms. Clinton brought up the issue of Ms. Machado in the first TV debate.) 
    • "There has to be some form of punishment," (March 2016, referring to women who might defy a ban on abortion, at a time when his campaign was saying it should be made illegal except in cases of rape, incest or health emergency.  Two hours later Mr. Trump ‘clarified’ that he would punish the doctors who performed abortions, but not the women themselves.)
    • “If Hillary Clinton can’t satisfy her husband what makes her think she can satisfy America?” (April 2015.  He later deleted the tweet.)
    • “I'm not saying she's an unattractive woman, but she's not beauty, by any stretch of the imagination. And now she's like a representative of the United Nations and world peace on hunger and all of this crap … It's called give me a break. But she's not - in terms of beauty, she's not a great beauty. She's OK. But she's not a great beauty. … I really understand beauty. I do own Miss. Universe. I do own Miss. USA.” (October 2007, to Larry King, about Angelina Jolie)
    • "Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president? I mean, she's a woman, and I'm not supposed to say bad things, but really, folks, come on. Are we serious?" (September 2015, to Rolling Stone magazine about his then Republican primary rival Carly Fiorina.)
    • "When you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything …Grab them by the p***y … You can do anything." (2005, in off-camera remarks recorded by the Access Hollywood show that were published on Friday by the Washington Post.)
  • Numerous women have come forward with sexual assault allegations against Trump. Source: http://people.com/politics/every-sexual-assault-accusation-against-donald-trump/

 

LGBTQ CONCERNS

 

AFRICAN AMERICAN/LATINO/MUSLIM COMMUNITY CONCERNS

 

HEALTHCARE CONCERNS

 

DISABLED COMMUNITY CONCERNS

 

These lists could go on and on, but I think the point is clear. Keep in mind, this does not even include concerns about global warming, nuclear weapons, and so many other issues.

 

WHAT NOW?

There is a petition going around trying to get the electors to vote for Hillary on December 19th. While I personally would love nothing more, I also realize it would take a miracle for that to happen. Instead, I have to accept the reality that Trump is going to be the President of the United States of America on January 20th.

That being the case, I can only echo the sentiments that I have heard from many others in the past several days. We as a people must unite to fight against prejudice and hate. We have to make our voices heard that we will not allow ourselves or others to be degraded and demeaned. We must not only concern ourselves with issues that affect us directly, but we must be an ally to our friends and neighbors who are facing fear and uncertainty. Under no circumstances can we let hate win, and in four years we have to do better to show our country and the rest of the world that we are a nation that represents every culture, every race, every religion and that not only tolerates, but celebrates the differences that make people unique and wonderful.

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