List of Trump’s Disqualifications

Introduction

A list is presented of 63 incidents, quotes, and revelations that singly and collectively disqualify Donald J. Trump to be President of the United States of America. All of this was widely known on election day. The reader, for review purposes, may wish to check the ones he knew about, and star the ones judged most disqualifying

Mr. Trump

1. Said he would build a 2000 mile wall along the Mexican border and make the Mexican government pay for it. _____
2. Stereotyped Mexican immigrants as “drug-runners, criminals, and rapists.” _____
3. Promised to deport “all illegal immigrants” (around eleven million.) Said he will deport “criminal aliens” first. Now says that three million deportations is the likely target. _____
4. Accused an American judge, Gonzalo P. Curiel, a native of Indiana, and presiding judge in a fraud case against Trump University, of prejudice because he was Mexican. ____
5. Mr. Trump called Pope Francis “disgraceful” for saying “A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian.” _____
6. Arranged for the Trump Foundation to make in 2013 a $25,000. donation to the re-election campaign of Pam Bondi, the Florida Attorney General, four days after an announcement that her office was considering joining a New York state probe of Trump University. This donation was in apparent violation of rules surrounding political activities by charities. Bondi had personally requested the donation of Trump. Bondi subsequently declined to join the New York investigation after the donation was made. _____
7. Used $258,000 from the Trump Foundation, whose purpose is charity, to settle his legal problems. _____
8.  Discovered to have paid less than $10,000 dollars over seven years to charities he had promised millions.
9. Declined to make public his federal tax returns, although he had promised to do so at the start of the campaign: “If I decide to run for office, I’ll produce my tax returns, absolutely.” _____
10. Admitted that he had rarely, if ever, paid federal income taxes. Claimed not paying taxes showed he’s “smart.” _____
11. Bankrupted casinos, leaving contractors unpaid, and losing investors’ money, while making millions himself. _____
12. Took four deferments from military service during the Vietnam War. _____
13. Disputed the heroism of Senator John McCain for surviving captivity in a North Vietnam prisoner of war camp where he was incarcerated for over six years after his plane had been shot down over North Vietnam. _____
14. Stated repeatedly that he opposed the invasion of Iraq when the facts show otherwise. _____
15. Impugned the integrity of Gold Star parents, Khizr and Ghazala Khan, whose son Army Captain Humayun Khan had been killed in Iraq in 2004. Suggested that Mrs. Kahn had not spoken at the Democratic National convention, as had her husband, because of constraints placed upon women by Islam, and assured her that her son wouldn’t have died if he, Trump, had been President at the time. _____
16. Equated his sacrifices as a real estate developer and businessman to active duty military in war zones, and to military families like the Khans. _____
17. Promised to bring back waterboarding “and much worse” in interrogating terrorists, even though this would be an international crime and make him a war criminal. Promised to keep the prison at Guantánamo open and to make use of it. _____
18. Said in regard to fighting terrorists, ” . . . you have to take out their families, when you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families.” _____
19. Claimed to know more than the “generals” on ISIS, and called the current generals “a disaster.” _____
20. Reported that he saw “thousands of Muslims in New Jersey” celebrating the demolition of the Twin Towers. No such event occurred. _____
21. Mocked a journalist suffering from a congenital joint condition (by flailing his arms and moving his head uncontrollably) in response to an inquiry about the fictional Muslim celebration in New Jersey. ______
22. Proposed a “total and complete shutdown” of the country’s borders to Muslims in the wake of the San Bernardino terrorist attack. _____
23. Called for surveillance of mosques as part of a national law enforcement effort to prevent terrorism. _____
24. Threatened to set aside libel laws so that publications that criticize him can be sued, a violation of the First Amendment right to freedom of the press. _____
25. Destabilized seventy years of United States foreign policy toward Europe by questioning whether the U.S. would defend its NATO allies when he is President. _____
26. Denied that climate change is real and a problem. Called climate change a “hoax.” Attributed the hoax to China. _____
27. Made friends with, gave interviews, and has taken counsel from Alex Jones, “a volcanic Austin radio and web-streaming host who broadcasts from a semi-secret location dubbed “The Central Texas Command Center and the Heart of the Resistance.”” Jones has been described as the “conspiracy theorist extraordinaire.”
28. Praised Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, as a strong leader, superior to the American President, and assured the world that Russia wouldn’t invade Crimea, when in fact it already had invaded. _____
29. Appointed Paul Manafort as second campaign manager, a political consultant in the election of Viktor Yanukovych, Putin’s favored candidate for President of the Ukraine. Yanukovych, after election and a subsequent rebellion against his rule, absconded to Russia in disgrace. _____
30. Requested that Russia, a foreign government, interfere in the election, by breaking into his opponent’s computers to find and produce missing emails. _____
31. Refused to accept intelligence briefings he had received identifying the Russian government as the probable source of emails and records hacked from the Democratic National Convention. _____
32. Dismissed suggestion that Russia would interfere in the American election as troves of hacked emails attributed to that source were furnished to the press by Julian Assange and Wikileaks. _____
33. Destabilized nuclear policy by recommending that the United States no longer automatically defend Japan and South Korea, and that those countries be allowed to “get nuclear weapons.” In reference to a possible nuclear confrontation between North Korea and Japan, he said: “If they do, they do. Good luck, enjoy yourself, folks.” Doesn’t know what the “nuclear triad” means. _____
34. Demeaned women by calling them names—pig, fat, slob, ugly, and more. Allowed his daughter to be referred to as “a piece of ass.” _____
35. Posted a series of angry, early morning “tweets” following the first debate on Alica Machado, a Miss Universe contestant he had fat-shamed, including a tweet that asked: “Did Crooked Hillary help disgusting (check out sex tape and past) Alicia M become a U.S. citizen so she could use her in the debate?” Ms. Clinton had brought up Machado’s name in the debate as an example of Trump’s attitudes toward and treatment of women. No such sex tape existed. Clinton had not gotten Machado citizenship.
36. Said about women in a 2005 video: “I’m automatically attracted to beautiful—I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.” When Billy Bush responds “Whatever you want?” Trump responds ”Grab ’em by the pussy. You can do anything.” Twelve women subsequently come forward to charge him with “groping” and unwanted advances such as the ones he confessed to in the tape. Two beauty show contestants charge him with invading their privacy by intentionally entering dress changing area to see them naked. _____
37. Claimed for eight years that President Obama was not born in the United States, was ineligible to be President, and therefore was illegitimate. He led the so-called “Birther” movement, and then, when cornered in his lie, blamed the birther movement on his opponent. _____
38. Claimed his opponent, Hillary Clinton, was a criminal and should be “locked up.” Promised in a debate to investigate her after his election and put her in jail. Unconstitutional means (ordering “his” Attorney General to investigate) would be employed. Also called her a “bigot,” “devil,” “sick,” “monster,” “crooked,” “liar,” “low stamina,”“most flawed candidate ever,” “founder of ISIS,” “nasty woman, “enabler of sexual assault,” and questioned her religion. Published an advertisement featuring dollar bills around Clinton’s face, with the Star of David imprinted with the words “Most Corrupt Candidate Ever!” The Star of David image had been taken from a far right, anti-semitic website. _____
39. Suggested to a crowd at a rally that a “second amendment remedy” might be necessary to stop his opponent from appointing Supreme Court judges if elected. _____
40. Lied routinely throughout campaign. Doubled down on lie whenever confronted by critics, even in the presence of irrefutable proof to the contrary. Never apologized to actual people he had offended and whose families he had hurt. _____
41. Showed himself incapable in debate preparation, staying on message, and avoiding diversions and gaffs. Lacked self-control and sustained discipline with the result that opponent was able to deliberatively and repeatedly bait him into bouts of anger, diversion, and insult. _____
42. Associated himself and his campaign with known nativists, bigots, racists, misogynists, climate deniers, xenophobes, and conspiracy theorists, known collectively as the “alt-right.”
43. Hired Steve Bannon, CEO of Breitbart News, as Campaign Chairman. The Ku Klux Klan, David Duke, and other white supremacists subsequently endorsed his candidacy with enthusiasm. _____
44. Refused to dissociate his campaign from white supremacist groups, when asked, until forced to do so by public pressure and the press. _____
45. Invited United Kingdom Independence Party (UNIP) leader Nigel Farage, the mastermind of BREXIT, to speak at a campaign rally in Mississippi, thus suggesting an interest in an international white supremacist movement. _____
46. Promulgated conspiracy theories repeatedly: of Obama’s birth; of Cruz’s father’s association with Lee Harvey Oswald; of Clinton and Obama roles in founding ISIS; of  Muslim celebrants in New Jersey, of the circumstances of Machado’s citizenship, and more. _____
47. Assumed mantle of “Law and Order Candidate” in response to instances of unarmed black people being killed by police, and of the killing of police officers by a black sniper in Dallas. _____
48. Stereotyped African-American communities, by regularly saying “Our African-American communities are absolutely in the worst shape that they’ve ever been in before, ever, ever, ever. . . ., you get shot walking down the street.” Two Hundred and fifty years of slavery, disenfranchisement, terror, work gangs, Jim Crow, segregation, and massive male imprisonment are overlooked, as are the many thriving neighborhoods of color in the nation today. _____
49. Promoted the often tried, legally-dubious, and failed “stop and frisk” procedure as his main plan for reducing crime in cities with a significant African-American presence. _____
50. Described as incapable of mental concentration and listening for as long as fifteen minutes by Tony Schwartz, the co-author who wrote The Art of the Deal for Trump. Schwartz described Trump as a “sociopath,” self-absorbed, and a non-reader. _____
51.  Schwartz further opined: ”I genuinely believe that if Trump wins and gets the nuclear codes there is an excellent possibility it will lead to the end of civilization. _____
52. Insisted repeatedly, with no evidence, that the “system is rigged” and that “the election is rigged.” _____
53. Refused to confirm that he would concede the election to his opponent if she won.
54. Demonstrated over and over again a lack of knowledge of United States and world history and of the Constitution of the United States. _____
55. Demonstrated a profound ignorance of foreign policy, and of existing treaties, international relations, global problems, current issues, and policy options. _____
56. Demonstrated a lack of knowledge of the roles, responsibilities, relationships and limitations of the three branches of government. _____
57. Has never participated in public service on any level of government. _____
58. Promised to the nation a plethora of dramatic actions and desirable outcomes, accomplished fast and quick, many on “Day 1,” but provided few details and no plans. Congress’s role was not mentioned. _____
59. Opined that “he alone” could solve nation’s problems, and that “I will be your voice.” Does not appear to understand the functions of Congress or the rights and responsibilities of a citizen in a democracy. _____
60. Has been widely understood to be offering to the public an anti-democratic,“strong man,” “dictatorial” and “authoritarian” type of leadership. _____
61. Has been widely reported to be self-absorbed and uninterested in the lives of others. Has been charged with sociopathic maladies, an absence of empathy, a quickness to take offense, to flash to anger, to go into rage, and experience an irresistible need to take revenge on perceived enemies, including random critics. Shows signs of unpredictability and instability. _____
62. Has been judged by clinical psychologists, from a distance and through the examination of videos, to fit all of the diagnostic indicators of a classic narcissistic personality. _____
63. Has been described as two-dimensional by a Novelist of Presidential Elections Thomas Mallon, because his interiority, his internal dialogue, is so opaque, nixing him as a possible narrator for the novel, requiring the use of Hillary instead! As witnessed at the Al Smith Dinner, Mr. Trump is bad at humor and rarely, if ever, laughs. Despite enormous success and wealth, he often speaks of himself as a victim. _____

Concluding Note

This has been a long, exceedingly painful list to construct, and it must be even more difficult to read and consider. It could be longer; other relevant facts are more than abundant. Take a look for example at Keith Olbermann’s rant on the same topic in The Closer, for GQ, “176 Reasons Donald Trump Shouldn’t Be President.”

On November 8, 2016 Donald J. Trump, according to The Associated Press, received 61,820,845 popular votes, translating to 290 electoral college votes, making him the 45th President of the United States of America. His opponent Hillary Clinton received 63,390,669 popular votes, 1,569,824 more than Trump, but translating into only 232 votes, with Michigan still undecided. The magic number of electoral votes for election is 270, which Mr. Trump has exceeded.

This is the first of a series of essays on the 2016 election.

Will Callender, Jr. ©

November 20, 2016

Author of Abdication: God Steps Down for Good