Donald Trump’s tenure as President of the United States was marked by behaviors and rhetoric that many, including members of his own party, consider unpresidential and deeply damaging to our American democracy. His actions were characterized by self-absorption, divisive language, disrespect toward women and minorities, a lack of compassion, and a troubling disregard for truth and democratic norms. These behaviors have not only raised serious concerns among the general public but have also led to criticism from prominent Republicans. Let’s examine how Trump’s words, actions, and overall conduct have undermined the trust, unity, and ethical standards necessary for effective leadership in a healthy democracy. In doing so, we will also assess whether Donald Trump embodies the qualities required of a U.S. president and whether his conduct is incompatible with duties of holding our nation’s highest office. Moreover, we will consider how his conduct has contributed to a divisive and toxic social climate in our country.
Let’s begin with some examples of Trump’s self-absorption. Trump frequently bragged about his accomplishments in ways that many found exaggerated and self-serving. For instance, in 2018, Trump claimed, “I’m a very stable genius.” While comments like these may appear somewhat harmless, they are certainly unusual for a leader. More troubling are comments like the following, which disregard the ‘genius’ of others. In 2019, Trump, despite having no military experience, bragged, “I think I would have been a good general, but who knows?” His grandiose self-assessment continued when he declared, “I know more about ISIS than the generals do, believe me.” These statements reflect a level of egotism that many, including some Republicans, found inappropriate for a leader expected to serve others with dignity and respect. Senator Ben Sasse, a Republican from Nebraska, criticized Trump’s self-centered leadership style, calling it “reckless” and “unbecoming” of a U.S. president.
Trump’s self-centeredness also extended into areas of policy, where he frequently prioritized his personal image over the well-being of the country. For example, during a press conference on March 13, 2020, when asked about the slow rollout of COVID-19 testing, Trump responded, “I don’t take responsibility at all.” Even more troubling, Trump admitted to journalist Bob Woodward in a recorded interview that he knew early on how deadly and serious the COVID-19 virus was, privately affirming, “This is deadly stuff.” However, he chose to downplay the severity of the pandemic to the public, saying, “I wanted to always play it down.” This deliberate decision to withhold critical information had dire consequences, as the lack of accurate information likely contributed to the spread of the virus and resulted in numerous preventable deaths. Republican Senator Susan Collins expressed concern over Trump’s handling of the pandemic, noting that his failure to communicate honestly with the public undermined trust in government. Trump’s White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham, a Republican, later revealed her own disillusionment with his handling of the crisis, describing his approach as dangerous and self-serving.
The flip-side of Trump’s self-congratulatory speech is his frequent public disrespect toward others. Beginning with women, Trump has repeatedly and unrepentantly made pejorative remarks, calling women “slobs,” “bimbos,” “fat,” “ugly,” and “disgusting.” During his 2016 campaign, Trump mockingly questioned Carly Fiorina’s electability by saying, “Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that?” Likewise and strangely, while campaigning in Pennsylvania, Trump declared, “I’m a better-looking person than Kamala.” More disgustingly, Trump disparaged journalist Megyn Kelly with the remark, “You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.” There’s also his infamous remark from 2005, where Trump is recorded saying, “You can do anything. Grab ’em by the pu**y. You can do anything.” Indeed, among the many women, who have claimed that Trump sexually abused them, Elizabeth Jean Carroll, a journalist, sued Trump for defamation and sexual battery. In May 2023, a jury found Trump liable for defamation and sexual abuse and awarded her five 5 million dollars in damages. After further defaming comments from Trump, another jury in January 2024 awarded Carroll an additional 83 million dollars. Judge Kaplan, in fact, found that Trump did rape Carroll as defined “in common modern parlance.” Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski and others have voiced their disapproval of Trump’s conduct toward women, calling his remarks “inappropriate” and “disrespectful.” These facts make it undeniably clear that Trump’s words and behaviors toward women fall well below any reasonable standard of respect and dignity expected of a decent human being and a president. Such demeaning words and behaviors undermine the respect and cohesion necessary within a healthy democracy and substantively contribute to the divisive and toxic social climate in our country.
Trump’s divisive rhetoric on race and ethnicity further underscores these concerns. His characterization of Mexican immigrants as “rapists” during his campaign announcement speech in 2015 set a troubling tone for his presidency. His comments about African Americans have been similarly problematic. Trump referred to African nations as “shithole countries” in 2018, a derogatory remark that sparked widespread condemnation. During the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, Trump called the protestors “thugs” while largely failing to address the legitimate, systemic issues raised by protestors, while also seeking to deploy the military against them. Trump repeatedly attacked prominent African American individuals and groups, often in demeaning terms. For example, Trump claimed that Representative Maxine Waters possesses a “low IQ,” that NFL players who kneeled during the national anthem to protest racial injustice were “sons of bitches,” that Congressman Elijah Cummings was a “brutal bully,” that Baltimore was a “disgusting, rat and rodent-infested mess,” and that Black Lives Matter was “destroying America.” Republican figures such as Senator Tim Scott criticized Trump’s racially insensitive remarks, urging the president to focus on unity rather than division.
Trump’s negative rhetoric frequently targeted Asian Americans and other groups as well, revealing strong xenophobic tendencies. For example, Trump repeatedly referred to COVID-19 as the “China virus” and “Kung Flu,” terms that many criticized as racist and which contributed to a rise of anti-Asian sentiment and hate crimes in the United States. Former Governor Nikki Haley, a Republican, cautioned against the use of such inflammatory language as harmful to the Asian American community. Here Trump’s language reflected a broader pattern of scapegoating and inflaming racial tensions rather than uniting the country. In another example, Trump declared that various congresswomen, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and others, should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came.” This phrase, “go back …,” has long been used as a racist jab against people of color in the U.S.? Likewise, when Trump criticized Congresswoman Ilhan Omar at a campaign rally, members of the MAGA movement joined together in a “Send her back!” chant, whose spirit is also reflected in terms of Trump’s rhetoric concerning mass deportations. Additionally, former Republican Senator Jeff Flake criticized Trump’s rhetoric relating to Native Americans, such as Trump calling Senator Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas,” stating that such comments were inappropriate for a sitting president and harmful to the nation’s discourse. Similarly, when Serge Kovaleski, a disabled reporter, who suffers from arthrogryposis, corrected Trump’s false claim that “thousands of people” in New Jersey had celebrated the September 11 terrorist attacks, Trump cruelly mocked Kovaleski and his condition. In viewing Trump’s conduct toward Kovaleski, former Republic Governor of Ohio, John Kasich said of Trump, “It’s just unacceptable. Totally inappropriate, and it’s just not worthy of the office that he is seeking.”
These types of attitudes and rhetoric also drove a wide range of policies and initiatives whereby, for example, Trump attempted to implement a travel ban against several predominantly Muslim countries. Likewise, Trump’s immigration policies included the inhumane separation of immigrant families, including children being separated from their parents. Former First Lady Laura Bush described this family separation policy as “cruel” and “immoral.” Likewise, Donald Trump’s response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico was delayed and inadequate as compared to responses of similar disasters on the U.S. mainland. Trump’s dismissive remarks, including denying the official death toll, falsely claiming that it was less than 100 when it was certainly thousands had dies, and trivializing the crisis by throwing paper towels to survivors, were seen as lacking empathy and respect. Furthermore, the clear disparities in federal assistance highlighted the issue racial discrimination and fostered a perception that Puerto Ricans were not valued as U.S. citizens. Republican Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida stated that the Trump administration “has been tragically slow in providing the necessary disaster relief to Puerto Rico. Puerto Ricans are American citizens, and they deserve the same level of support and urgency in response as any other U.S. citizens.” In part to justify Trump’s lack of engagement in addressing climate change, including Trump’s withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Climate Accords, Trump engaged in divisive, unpresidential rhetoric. For example, Trump’s made multiple flippant and condescending comments about an environmental activist, Greta Thunberg. For example, to undermine her, Trump ridiculed her saying: “She seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see!” and “So ridiculous. Greta must work on her Anger Management problem, then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Greta, Chill!” Is this how a sensible leader or decent human being responds to a dedicated teenager? Not surprisingly, former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and other Republicans have criticized Trump’s actions on environmental issues, accusing him of not responding to the realities of climate change or the needs of future generations.
Trump’s support, admiration, and relationships with authoritarian leaders like Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un are particularly troubling. For example, during a 2018 summit in Helsinki, Trump publicly sided with Putin over U.S. intelligence agencies, sparking widespread criticism. Trump’s support of Putin was also very inappropriate when, in 2022, he praised Putin’s strategy during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, calling it “genius” and “savvy.” Such remarks provided support and encouragement to Putin’s aggressive, militaristic actions and damaged international efforts to condemn the invasion. Similarly, Trump’s interactions with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who like Putin is responsible for many human rights abuses including the murder of political opponents, show a predisposition to flatter and support a ruthless dictator. Prominent Republicans, including Trump’s former National Security Advisor John Bolton, have voiced concern over Trump’s relationships with authoritarian leaders, warning that they have endangered our national interests and our global leadership position.
Despite Trump’s self-perception as a military genius, his disrespect for military service members and veterans is reprehensible. Consider, for example, Trump disparaging Republican Senator John McCain: “He’s not a war hero. He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.” Additionally, Trump’s White House Chief of Staff, John Kelly confirmed that Trump called captured and injured service members “suckers” and “losers” because “there is nothing in it for them.” These comments show that Trump has an egregious disrespect for those who have sacrificed their lives in service for our country. For this reason, Trump’s Defense Secretary, James Mattis, has strongly criticized Trump’s behavior, emphasizing the importance of respect and honor in leadership. Similarly, in this regard, Trump’s White House Chief of Staff, John Kelly, described Trump as “a person who admires autocrats and murderous dictators. A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law;” and as “a person that has no idea what America stands for and has no idea what America is all about.”
Kelly’s words are certainly relevant in regard to Trump’s role in the January 6th insurrection, where he encouraged and incited a mob of his followers to attack the U.S. Capitol by telling them that the election had been “stolen” and by urging them to “fight like hell.” In response to his part in the January 6th insurrection, Trump was impeached for “incitement of insurrection” by the House of Representatives with a 232 to 197 vote, with 10 Republicans voting to impeach. While not meeting the two-thirds majority to convict, the Senate vote to convict was 57 to 43, with 7 Republicans voting to convict. The risk of such an insurrectionist becoming president is a clear danger to our democracy. No one, much less the president, should place themselves above the well-being of the country, above its laws, and above its democratic institutions. Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger has criticized Trump’s role in the insurrection, stating that the former president “broke the oath” to defend the Constitution and directly supported the violence that ensued.
Honesty is fundamental to presidential leadership. Honesty is required for the proper functioning of a democracy, and it is crucial for the needed trust between leaders and citizens. On November 15, 2020, Trump falsely claimed, “I WON THE ELECTION. VOTER FRAUD ALL OVER THE COUNTRY!” This and many other false claims made by Trump during his presidency have been documented by professional fact-checkers. In one prominent example, on February 27, 2020, Trump falsely claimed of COVID-19, “It’s going to disappear. One day, it’s like a miracle, it will disappear.” In many other ways, Trump also falsely downplayed the dire seriousness of the epidemic. In another prominent example, in 2017 Trump falsely claimed that Obama had wiretapped Trump Tower. This statement was dismissed as false by the FBI Director at the time, James Comey, a Republican; the Republican Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee at the time, Devin Nunes, and the Senate Intelligence Committee. Trump’s lack of factualness and honesty has eroded our trust in leadership and is incompatible with the integrity expected of a president. Republican Senator Mitt Romney has highlighted the danger of Trump’s repeated falsehoods, warning that they endanger American democracy.
In conclusion, Donald Trump’s words and behaviors as president, along with his ongoing actions and rhetoric, suggest a clear and significant departure from the principles of empathy, respect, and integrity that are required for leadership. His self-absorption, disregard for women, racial rhetoric, hostility toward minorities, troubling relationships with authoritarian leaders, praise for Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, lack of compassion, and dishonesty are all traits that demonstrate that Trump is not fit to be president. Importantly, these criticisms and judgments are not limited to Democrats and Independents, they have been made by numerous Republicans who have publicly expressed their concerns about Trump’s unfitness for office. Moreover, these areas of concern are wide ranging, including his incitement of the January 6th insurrection; the preventable deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic; the undue suffering in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria; his troubling foreign relationships, his disregard for truth and democratic norms, and his disrespect toward women, minorities, and the military. For all these reasons, Trump’s ongoing words, actions, and qualities significantly undermine a healthy democracy, contribute to our divisive and toxic social climate, and make Trump unfit to be president.
