The GOP, leading the free world in incompetence

On November 8, U.S. voters may elect as President of the United States Donald Trump, by far the most incompetent and unfit major party candidate for that office in all of U.S. history. The fact that Trump was able to secure the Republican nomination has become a huge embarrassment to many Americans, and even many Republicans, but the GOP has no one to blame but itself. The nomination of Trump is an indication of astounding incompetence on the part of the GOP.

The signs that Trump was unfit for office have been obvious for a long time. The following are some of the stories that were accessible to everyone over the last quarter century:

1991: John R. O’Donnell, former president of Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino, published “Trumped!” where he accused Trump of making racist and anti-Semitic comments. He wrote that Trump said, “Laziness is a trait in blacks”, then added, “Black guys counting my money! I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys that wear yarmulkes every day.”

1992: Trump “floated the idea that convicted rapist and boxer Mike Tyson should be allowed to pay “millions and millions” of dollars to rape victims instead of serving jail time”.

1993: Trump “testified before the House Natural Resources subcommittee on Native American affairs” and “devoted much of his testimony to bad-mouthing Indians and their casinos”.

1994: Trump appeared on an episode of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous and made inappropriate comments about the future breasts of his then one-year-old daughter Tiffany.

1995: Trump publicly donated money to Sinn Fein. At that time, “Sinn Fein and the IRA were considered to be the political and military arms of the same movement”.

1996: Trump referred to the winner of the Miss Universe pageant, Alicia Machado, as “Miss Piggy” and “an eating machine” because she had gained some weight after winning the contest.

1997: In an interview with Howard Stern, Trump, who had dodged the draft to serve in Vietnam, referred to his sexual adventures as his “personal Vietnam”.

1998: A Polish immigrant, witness in a class-action lawsuit against Donald Trump, recalled “nightmare memories of backbreaking 12-hour shifts and of being cheated with 200 other undocumented Polish immigrants out of meager wages and fringe benefits”.

1999: Trump quietly settled a lawsuit that claimed that he “had cheated Laborers Local 95 out of at least $300,000 in contributions to its benefit funds by secretly employing the nonunion workers”.

2000: In a discussion on whether he would be running for President, Trump said, “It’s very possible that I could be the first presidential candidate to run and make money on it”. Asked whether he found Monica Lewinsky attractive, “Trump screwed up his face and stuck his tongue out slightly, as if to gag”.

2001: “Trump bragged that his building was the tallest in New York City hours after the World Trade Center towers fell on Sept. 11”.

2002: In an interview with Howard Stern, Trump claimed that once a woman is 35, it is time to leave her: “What is it at 35? It’s called check-out time”.

2003: In another interview with Howard Stern, Trump said that “he was attracted to Paris Hilton — when she was 12”.

2004: In yet another interview with Howard Stern, Trump said that it’s okay to call his daughter Ivanka who was 22 years old at the time, “a piece of ass”.

2005: Trump was “sued for $1.3 million by three real estate brokers” who said that he had “failed to pay them in full after the profitable sale of land and apartments he owned on the former West Side Manhattan rail yards”.

2006: Trump said about his daughter Ivanka who was 24 years old at the time, “if she wasn’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her”.

2007: Trump claimed that “the rising prevalence of autism is related to vaccinations of babies and toddlers”.

2008: Trump tried to “avoid paying $40 million that he personally guaranteed on a construction loan” on the excuse that recession was an “act of God”.

2009: Choreographer Michael Schwandt accused Trump of tampering with the selection of Miss Universe.

2010: A lawsuit claimed that Trump and three of his children owed “the buyers millions after claiming the condo/hotel was as much as 60% sold, when only 15% of the units have been sold”.

2011: Trump declared his admiration for Saddam Hussein.

2012: Trump claimed that attorney Gloria Allred would be impressed with his genitals.

2013: New York State’s Attorney General sued Trump over Trump University, claiming that Trump “appeared in advertisements for the school making “false promises” to persuade more than 5,000 people around the country — including 600 New Yorkers — “to spend tens of thousands of dollars they couldn’t afford for lessons they never got””.

2014: A New York judge found Trump “personally liable for operating a for-profit investment school without the required license”.

2015: Trump made sexist comments about Fox News host Megyn Kelly’s menstrual cycle: “You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever”.

Only one story is listed per year from 1991 to 2015, but many more stories can be found in those 25 years before Trump declared his intention to seek the Republican nomination. Each of these stories, if taken alone, could perhaps be ignored, but taken together, they are a sea of red flags that should have warned Republicans to stay very far away from this candidate.

The stories expose Trump as a corrupt businessman who lies and cheats. They show him to be sympathetic to dictators and terrorists. They uncover his very loose and self-centered sense of morality. His statement about vaccines even expose him as dangerously uneducated. His only strength appears to be the ability to attract media attention.

USA Today counted 3,500 lawsuits by or against Trump. The recent stories of alleged sexual assaults by Trump and the video of his bragging about them should have come as no surprise to anyone who has spent even a small amount of time following him in the news. The ongoing lawsuits involving Trump, including the one claiming that he raped a 13-year-old girl also should have surprised no one. The GOP has no excuse for its glaring incompetence.

Despite all this, Trump may yet be elected. His competition is a highly qualified candidate in the name of Hillary Clinton, but the GOP was successful in portraying Clinton as a liar when it is glaringly obvious that Trump is a much bigger liar, in addition to his many other faults. Celebrated author Salman Rushdie reflected on this absurdity by writing, “Trump will go on trial in November accused of racketeering, and again in December accused of child rape. He is a sexual predator, hasn’t released his tax returns, and has used his foundation’s money to pay his legal fees. He has abused the family of a war hero and… oh, but let’s talk about some emails Hillary didn’t send from someone else’s computer, that weren’t a crime anyway, because that’s how to choose a president. Come on, America. Focus”.

America is already the laughingstock of the world for even considering Trump for President. If Trump is elected, he would likely be the most incompetent and corrupt head of state anywhere in the free world, in competition with the likes of Idi Amin Dada and Hugo Chavez. Considering America’s leading position in the world and the fact that it is a major nuclear power, Trump’s ineptitude would put every inhabitant of the planet at risk.

This is the gift that the GOP wants to give America and the world on November 8.