The latest ISIS terrorist attack not only struck fear in Europeans, but also in many Americans — as it illustrated what’s really at stake in our presidential election.
The international community is dealing with the constant threat of terrorist attacks like the heinous act we saw in Belgium this week. Yet, one of the leading contenders to run this country, Donald Trump, doesn’t even know that Belgium is a country.
In his remarks on Tuesday’s attack, Trump referred to Belgium as a city — a statement most fifth-graders would know is incorrect. Apart from demonstrating a serious lack of basic geography skills, Trump also fell back on his tried and true method of flinging insults as a means of proposing a resolution.
He tore the “city” of Belgium, saying it is a “horror show” that has been infiltrated by terrorists. To curb that epidemic, Trump proposed increasing the threshold for torturing suspected terrorists, praising the power of waterboarding and said, if it were up to him, he’d sanction “a lot more” than waterboarding.
It’s the same empty rhetoric Trump invoked to play upon Americans’ fears. He knows many in the country are racist, so his solution is to build a wall to block Mexican immigrants. He knows many in the country associate the Muslim faith with terrorism, so his solution is to ban all people who identify as Muslims. Now, he knows many in the country want to see ISIS terrorists stopped in their tracks, so his solution is to throw laws to the wind.
But that’s a wholly self-serving proposal, as Trump is trying to promote the imagery of himself singlehandedly stamping out aspiring terrorists, playing into Americans’ fear for his own political gain.
Apart from Trump’s overt racism, homophobia, xenophobia, sexism and the many other -isms he’s exhibited through this campaign, his sheer lack of foreign-policy experience and knowledge should alone be enough to steer voters away. This is a candidate who touts a foreign-policy advising team that includes a 2009 college graduate whose foreign-policy background includes a stint on his school’s Model United Nations team.
The stakes are high for our country right now. At the least, let’s elect someone who could pass fifth-grade social studies.