One of the biggest problems with the two-party system is that it is more than a choice between a Democrat and a Republican. Instead, we are presented with a choice to end all choices as part of the latest election to be branded the most “consequential” election of our lifetimes.
Both candidates and their campaigns present themselves as the best imaginable option, while his or her opponent is the worst imaginable option. Along with a handful of other cynical tactics such as appeals to emotion, statistical abuse, and good old-fashioned lies, we are faced not with a choice between two politicians but two competing would-be monarchs, or even false gods, both vying to win us over with their list of promises on the back of their personality, their tone, and their empathy.
After the ABC-sponsored Democratic Party campaign event that masqueraded as a presidential debate, it’s obvious that based on these irrelevant factors, the public is facing a bad choice.
And this is where we need a return to reality. We need to remember that elections aren’t meant to decide the nation’s moral leader or emotional leader or parental figure — as Vice President Kamala Harris put it, someone to ask, “Are you OK?” They are there to decide between two general directions of policy — for some, as a lesser of two evils — while understanding that the fight for any ideology is never complete, regardless of the promises politicians try to sell us.
November’s election will be decided by three groups of voters.
The first will vote for Harris no matter what. The second will vote for former President Donald Trump no matter what. And this column is for the third group: everyone else. The people who are undecided. The centrist or independent voters who don’t know where they belong. The politically exhausted, disenfranchised, or pissed off. The people who don’t care about politics. The people who can’t stand one or both candidates. The people who watched the debate and asked themselves, “Why bother voting at all? I hate them both.”
If you fall into this category, here is why you should vote for Trump.
‘It’s the economy, stupid’
Usually, at least one presidential candidate has the benefit of running on the basis of a hypothetical administration. All they have to do is build a bright future executive branch in their imagination and sell it to the public.
What makes this election different is that both Trump and Harris have been in the White House already. In fact, contrary to what she will have you believe, Harris is there right now after spending years praising President Joe Biden’s economic policy and even casting the tiebreaking vote to pass the oxymoronic Inflation Reduction Act.
This means we have a direct side-by-side comparison of the economy under Trump and Harris. And no matter how hard the Harris campaign tries to rewrite history, Trump wins every single time, and that’s before we consider Harris’s promise to hand out $25,000 to new homeowners or tax unrealized capital gains.
Since coming into office, Biden and Harris have ruled over an economy riddled with out-of-control inflation. Under their leadership, gas prices are up over 40%, electricity is up over 30%, and rent is up over 20%. What about groceries? Eggs are up over 50%, flour is up over 35%, milk is up over 15%, and bread is up over 20%. The list goes on and on.
Overall inflation across the Biden-Harris administration is over 20%, with wage increases lagging far behind price increases. What does this mean? Americans under Biden and Harris are poorer than under Trump.
And while Harris will try to blame inflation on COVID-19 and, therefore, on Trump, we can’t forget that annual inflation was 1.4% when Trump left office despite COVID-19 and then skyrocketed under Biden and Harris, let alone the voluntary economic suicide of countless Democratic mayors and governors across the country in 2020.
Immigration
Under the Biden-Harris administration, the country has witnessed an unimaginable illegal immigration crisis, with millions of migrants crossing the southern border illegally as a direct result of Biden’s decision to undo Trump’s border policies by executive action on the first day of his administration.
After the border crisis became too large of a problem to ignore as we trudged toward the election, Democrats suddenly reversed course and called for strict border controls while blaming Trump for supposedly scuppering efforts in Congress despite the fact that Biden could close the border as easily as he opened it in January 2021: with the stroke of a pen.
In 2020, the Trump administration was working to protect the border. That same year, Harris called for illegal immigration to be decriminalized and said she would fund transgender surgeries for illegal immigrants in prison.
“An undocumented immigrant is not a criminal,” Harris said in 2017.
The families of those raped, assaulted, and murdered by “undocumented” immigrants would disagree.
Foreign policy
Finally, there’s foreign policy, an area of politics that, unlike all others, is under the almost total control of the executive branch. And make no mistake: The world was safer under Trump than Biden and Harris.
Wedged between former President Barack Obama and Biden, Trump’s administration was one of peace, whether it be through the historic Abraham Accords, the financial knee-capping of Iran, or the suppression of Russian territorial desires in Europe. Meanwhile, under Biden and Harris, Russia invaded Ukraine (as it did under Obama), Iran returned to its status as a regional terrorism funder (as it did under Obama), thereby enabling Hamas to attack Israel on Oct. 7, and we witnessed the most humiliating military embarrassment and tragedy in modern American history during the withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, costing us the lives of 13 brave U.S. service members.
During the debate, Harris tried to channel George Orwell to argue that war under her administration is proof of strength, while peace under Trump is proof of weakness, but the opposite is true. Biden and Harris might have the love and adoration of their fellow feckless bureaucrats in NATO, the European Union, and the United Nations, but while they chuckle over their champagne receptions, war has exploded across the world.
When it comes to personality, tone, style, mannerisms, predictability, discipline, or messaging, you may prefer Harris to Trump.
But look beyond the packaging. Look at your bank account at the end of the month. Look at the grocery bill when you get to the checkout counter. Look at the horrific crimes being committed across the nation by people who should not be here. Look at the suffering caused worldwide because of wars Biden and Harris enabled and, in some cases, funded.
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These things actually matter.
They are why you should vote for Donald Trump in November.
Ian Haworth is a columnist, speaker, and podcast host. You can find him on Substack and follow him on X at @ighaworth.