Donald Trump launches fear as a failed campaign strategy

Trump launched his re-election campaign with fear-mongering
Opinion echo published in the Texas newspaper the El Paso Times

When a candidate is insecure in his electability, fear-mongering and hateful, divisive rhetoric becomes their hallmark. 

Unfortunately, and possibly due to the interference of foreign governments in the 2016 election, this was a winning position for our current president.

Apparently utilizing the theory that “if it works, don’t fix it,” and building upon a well-documented history of lying to the American people, Trump has launched his re-election campaign with the same fear-mongering and hateful, divisive rhetoric that colored his prior campaign and tenure as our nation’s leader.

He began by escalating tensions in our international alliances; separating from time-honored policies that won our nation’s title and reputation of “leader of the free world,” creating more hostilities between the U.S. and our collaborating allies than at any time in history.

Now, we are at odds with Iran, threatening further destabilization of already fragile relations with the majority of Middle Eastern nations. By deploying more troops to the near-Middle East in advance of his campaign rally, it is likely Mr. Trump has created and will continue to create the appearance of aggression on our part, leading us into yet another unnecessary and endless military conflict.

With continuous diatribes against our sister nation of Mexico, the brutal treatment of refugees, asylum seekers, and unaccompanied migrant children, and threats of economic sanctions and disruption of trade with Mexico, Mr. Trump continues to treat Mexico, and the 22 other nations south of the U.S., as enemies. By calling immigrants, refugees, asylum-seekers and unaccompanied migrant children “criminals,” referring to them as a blight upon our society, Mr. Trump continues his creation of an imaginary army of people bursting across the border to take over our nation, our culture and marry our daughters and sons.

But, people migrate from all over the world, both legally and without complying with the immigration processes. 

Moreover, people have historically sought refuge from persecution, poverty, violence, and civil strife by coming to the United States and applying for asylum. It is their right to do so under existing laws and has been for over seven decades. It is the Trump administration violating the existing laws with the “Remain in Mexico” policy, the blockade from approaching the port of entry by Customs and Border Protection officials at the top of the international bridges, and the refusal to timely process asylum applications once received.

And then, he announces that there will be roundups of every undocumented immigrant in the U.S. Good luck with that. The following day, officials from the Department of Homeland Security advised that there is insufficient staffing, detention facilities, and travel accommodations to do so. Agents are focusing on people under recent removal (or deportation) orders — who may not actually even be deportable.

So, Trump tweeted his campaign announcements from a “throne” of power — threatening war with Iran, threatening immediate and massive raids of the homes and workplaces of undocumented immigrants, falsely portraying his accomplishments. And he used these talking points in his campaign rally, lying as is his wont, about his administration’s accomplishments. This is the tone of his campaign — receiving rousing cheers from his supporters.

No surprises here — he has lied to us over 10,000 times, including at least six times in his Tuesday (campaign kick off) speech. He called people inappropriate nicknames, demeaned international leaders. As revealed in the Mueller investigation, he, his family, and his closest political allies have engaged in conduct to subvert the orderly process of elections in our country. He and his family, through their corporations and business entities, have enriched themselves at taxpayer expense. He whips up his base, calling forth the most frightening and hateful aspects of human nature.

All of this to the detriment of our republic. Pay attention, America. We are surely in for another wild ride. 

I hope the result is different this time.

Ouisa D. Davis is an attorney at law in El Paso. She can be reached at Ouisadavis@yahoo.com.