I Will Never Join the Trump Cult. Ever.

With his victory in Florida and most of the other states holding primaries this past Tuesday, Donald Trump’s chances of becoming the Republican nominee for president have only increased. It appears likely that there will be a contested convention this summer as no nominee is likely to receive the necessary number of delegates to get the nomination outright. Naturally, Trump’s supporters believe he should be the one to receive the nomination at a contested convention since he will have the most delegates. History has shown that’s not always the way things go at conventions, so the outcome is still uncertain.

It still seems incredible that Donald Trump is one of four remaining candidates in both parties who have a chance of becoming the next president. Donald. Trump. The candidate who is defined as a vessel of populist anger is milking it for everything he can get. Trump has harvested a gang of supporters from both parties who are more fanatical about their candidate than any I have ever seen in a presidential election. The term ‘Trump Cult’ has been used in more than one place and seems an apt description for his groupies. Yes, groupies.

One of the definitions of ‘groupie’ is “an admirer of a celebrity.” Trump is a celebrity who has been running his campaign like a reality television show and that seems to be registering with a lot of people. Not the majority, but a lot. Is this what it’s come to in our country, when a super-rich, reality television star can put on a show for the electorate and woo them into supporting him, in spite of all for which he stands? Yes, yes, I know, he claims to be a conservative. He says conservative things and people believe it. Even some who have been the faces of the conservative movement have bought into the Trump Cult, hook, line and sinker. But let’s be clear about Trump’s alleged conservatism. There’s absolutely nothing conservative about the man. Nothing. Sure, he says some conservative things and his comments on immigration last year registered with a lot of people, but an examination of the man’s record and his past actions paint a completely different picture. The man is a fraud. And if you’re in the Trump Cult you’re being defrauded. You will not be getting the president you think you’ll be getting.

The Trump Cult says, “We’re angry at the status quo and both political parties!” “We’re tired of politicians who are bought by billionaires and do their bidding!” So the solution is to elect one of the billionaires who have been buying the politicians? On the surface that may sound like a great plan, cutting out the middle man and all. Sure, cut out the politicians who have been bought and elect the buyer! Awesome plan! All you’re doing is saving Trump money since he doesn’t have to buy himself. And you think things will be better with that plan? It doesn’t seem to me that the Trump Cult has thought this through very well. Perhaps they’re too enamored with the personality of a celebrity television star and the brash talk of a man who has no scruples about being indecent, rude or just plain mean.

If it seems I’m being harsh on the Trump Cult, excellent! You’ve been paying attention! I can understand the Democrats in the Trump Cult since their only other options are the socialist Sanders or the currently-under-federal investigation Clinton. Where else should they be expected to go but to one of their own who is pretending to be a
Republican? Republicans, on the other hand, should know better. Perhaps the Republicans in the Trump Cult are just enthralled by a personality who gives them the ‘straight talk’ they’ve been craving, even if it’s from a dyed-in-the-wool liberal who should be given a best actor award for his portrayal of a conservative. Trump’s conservatism is as real as leprechauns and unicorns.

In addition to his fictitious conservatism, Trump is one of the most indecent men to run for president that I’ve ever seen. Some of the things he has said are downright repulsive and disgusting. And yet the Cult cheers when he says them. Don’t think that reaction isn’t noticed by Trump. He said recently that, “I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters, okay? It’s like incredible!” Yes, it’s incredible all right. Incredibly sickening that a man as crude as Trump could be a viable candidate for president.

And yet here we are, with Trump as a viable candidate. He may very well end up being president, but he would not be a conservative president. As soon as he gets elected he will drop the conservative shtick like an ex-wife and the true Trump will come out. The true liberal, who has made it clear he plans to be an autocratic president who will reign over us and wield power from the executive branch as not even Obama has done. Just look at his record and you will see the true liberal.

• He has switched political parties six times.
• He has donated thousands and thousands of dollars to Democrats, far more than he has donated to Republicans
• He has bragged about “buying politicians” and getting them to do what he wants. Such a man is not the solution to political corruption. He is the cause of it.
• He has spoken in favor of massive tax increases.
• He is a twice-divorced, serial adulterer who has bragged about his dalliances with married women.
• He said of his own daughter that he would probably date her if she wasn’t his daughter.
• He has defended Planned Parenthood, saying that they do “wonderful things” and should continue to receive federal funds. I guess that excuses the millions of babies they’ve butchered. Not one cent of our tax dollars should go to Planned Parenthood.
• He said his pro-partial birth abortion federal judge sister would be a “phenomenal” justice on the Supreme Court.
• He has voiced support for eminent domain abuse, once using it to take a woman’s property so he could have a parking place for his limousine.
• He has said he’s never done anything for which he needs to repent.
• He has voiced support for single-payer government-run healthcare.
• He said that he “likes the mandate” in Obamacare.
• He supported amnesty for illegal immigrants during the Gang of Eight debacle, calling Mitt Romney “meanspirited” on immigration. And we’re to believe he’s all of a sudden done a complete reversal on immigration because he’s running for president?
• He has said he favors a ban on “assault weapons” and longer waiting periods for purchasing firearms.
• He has threatened to “open up libel laws” to make it easier for him to sue news organizations that say things he doesn’t like. He added that, should he win the election, news organizations that have criticized him will “have problems.”
• He has admitted suing a reporter in the past when he knew he would lose, just because he wanted to cost the reporter money and cause him aggravation.
• He has said he would be neutral on Israel and has questioned their commitment to peace. He also said about Israel and the Arabs, “I’d like to see if we could make peace. It would be good for everybody.” Wow, now why hasn’t someone else thought of that!?
• He received draft deferments during the Vietnam War and mocked American prisoners of war last year, specifically John McCain, saying, “I like people who weren’t captured.”
• When a reporter described Bernie Sanders’ socialist campaign to Trump, Trump mistook it for his own campaign.
• He made a mockery of a reporter’s menstrual cycle during a debate.
• He made a mockery of another reporter’s disability, flailing his arms to mimic him while on stage at a rally.
• He routinely calls people “dummy” and “stupid.” One writer has a list of more than sixty people he has publicly called “loser.”
• Trump University is the subject of three lawsuits, two of them class actions and one by the New York attorney general, who said, “We started looking at Trump University and discovered that it was a classic bait-and-switch scheme. It was a scam, starting with the fact that it was not a university.”

Can anyone review this list and still honestly believe this man would be a good president? A conservative president? Trump is not even a decent person.

Trump is a narcissistic political opportunist who will claim whatever position will currently gain him the most personally. His false conservatism is but a disguise for his populist ideals, which he has been unable to hide but has successfully convinced the Trump Cult is nothing but lies.

The Trump campaign is an infection to the conservative movement and one that I can never support. I have observed several pundits who used to be trusted voices of conservatism now saying that if Trump is the nominee that Republicans should show party unity and support him, or we could end up with Hillary Clinton as president. In other words, the old ‘lesser of two evils’ method of voting.

I reject this thinking.

To vote for Donald Trump is to signify acceptance of him as the new face of the conservative movement. I will not do that. To vote for Donald Trump is to take the work of generations of conservatives and throw it on the ash heap of history. I will not do that. To vote for Donald Trump is to destroy conservatism itself. I will not participate in that. I will not play a role in the disintegration of the very movement which Trump is pretending to represent.

I am sure that if Trump is the nominee and he loses to Clinton that many will blame those such as me who refuse to cast a vote for a man who is antithetical to conservatism. I and others like me will be the recipient of the blame when it actually will belong to those who supported this charlatan in the first place.

A man such as Trump, who should be running as a Democrat, should never be allowed to represent conservatism or the Republican Party. If enough of the electorate is fooled by him and the Trump Cult manages to get him nominated or even elected, it will happen without my support.

Here in Oklahoma, it is very difficult for third parties to get on the ballot. With a recent change in the law, it is possible that the Libertarians will be able to have a candidate on the ballot, but I will never vote for a party that favors legalizing drugs. If Trump is the nominee I will not be casting a vote for president. I will never join the Trump Cult. Ever.