The Wall That Will Save the World
Yesterday, January 9th 2019, President Trump addressed the nation from the White House pleading with them and their representatives to reconsider the building of a 234 mile steel wall along our southern border. The wall, which will cost almost $60 billion to construct, making it the largest public works project since the Interstate Highway Project. This rhetoric has been repeated since the beginning of Trump’s campaign in 2016.
Although he sounds as confident as ever, many of the things he’s saying is blatantly wrong or misleading. Many of the claims he made are to rally his supporters and paint a picture of a “growing humanitarian and security crisis at our southern border.”
In this speech however, Trump makes claims that might be very scary (if they were correct).
In the first sentence he says there is a “security crisis at the southern border”, even though the number of attempted illegal crossings is at a 20-year low.
He then says border patrol agents are encountering thousands of attempted crossings everyday, but his administration puts it in the hundreds.
Next he brings up drugs and arrests which he says “Our southern border is a pipeline for vast quantities of illegal drugs, including meth, heroin, cocaine and fentanyl. Every week, 300 of our citizens are killed by heroin alone, 90 percent of which floods across from our southern border.” But while 90% does come through virtually all of it is through legal entry points and the majority of drugs coming into the US wouldn’t be helped by building a wall.
“Last month, 20,000 migrant children were illegally brought into the United States, a dramatic increase. These children are used as human pawns by vicious coyotes and ruthless gangs.” No government statistic tracks children smuggled in by bad actors, “coyotes” or drug gangs. Most illegal immigrants here today are overstaying their visas, not illegally crossing over the border as Trump wants us to believe.
Trump has been using false and misleading claims for as long as people have listened to him and with him now being president these untrue claims carry much more weight. The President need to be held accountable for what he plays off to the American People as truth because it can have huge repercussions. His supporters don’t check if what he’s saying is true, and if they did perhaps they’d change their minds, as unlikely as it is.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/01/09/fact-checking-president-trumps-oval-office-address-immigration/?utm_term=.7b579d04ccb3
T • Feb 8, 2019 at 11:38 am
I think the way he’s trying to handle politics is the way he handled his business, which just doesn’t work. Much of what he says is dramatized and he uses buzzwords that inflect an emotional response to get his way. This works as a business tactic but is inappropriate for his job as a president. He clearly demonstrates he does not understand how our democracy works because he is attempting to force congress to fund his wall and attempting to override their votes. He seems to see himself as more of the CEO of America and not the President.
Matics • Jan 18, 2019 at 8:35 am
I feel the president takes his job as a joke. He does a nice job of stating things and persuading in his favor to make Americans feel that he’s correct. False information can lead into a untrustworthy president. I feel trump is better for trolling or advertising certain things but not someone who could stand up as the president of our country and make the correct decisions.
BeefCakes • Jan 24, 2019 at 9:01 am
I would say just because you don’t feel like he’s making the correct decisions from what I assume is based off of political party, that it’s necessarily a true or false statement. You do have to realize there are more than one set of ideas than your own. One thing that you have to admire about President Trump was his ability to get North Korea to the bargaining table. No other President has done as well with North Korea has Trump. I would agree however the President of the United States shouldn’t be calling the dictator of North Korea “Rocket man” over social media.
jefferson • Jan 16, 2019 at 11:54 am
In my opinion, the president is not qualified to be president. He is better at the job of entrepreneurs, but for president he is not so good. that’s why he always took the worst decisions for the country
jefferson • Jan 16, 2019 at 11:51 am
In my opinion, the president from USA it is a businessman. He may be the best on businessman job but he is the worst on the presidential job. that why he take the wort choices for the country.