One year ago this week, Donald Trump was elected to his second presidential term. And today, nearly 10 months into his second term, the administrative team that Mr. Trump has assembled to help him govern leaves much to be desired, with many on his team being outright incompetent. As with the start of his first term in 2017, Mr. Trump has failed miserably with striking the right balance for the sake of our Republic. There’s no doubt in my mind that he and his team are leading America in the wrong direction, with Mr. Trump having been allowed to cross too many lines and with the inaction of the Republican-controlled Congress. Republicans have simply turned away from adhering to the norms of good governance.
As the American head of state, the Office of the President is the living embodiment of the character of our nation, and in that role, the president has to reflect the desire to bring the American people together as a nation, helping us realize our destiny is one and the same. So, with 10 months into Trump’s second term, should we be worried?
One thing is for certain, for the last several months, Republicans have done very little to hold President Trump accountable to established norms and guardrails in place to protect our democracy as Trump, himself, has repeatedly shown disregard for our laws. And there are other reasons we should be worried about a Trump second term. To be sure, there is an assault on the successes of the Civil Rights movement, especially on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies.
With that in mind, we must continue to call out any attempt to turn back the clock on gains we’ve made in fulfilling America’s promise of racial equality and social justice. Surely, we must insist that our civic leaders, from the White House to the State House, from all political persuasions stand up and do the right thing. We all must continue to care about advancing racial equity and justice. We must never again become stuck in “yesterday’s America.” Instead, we must always be in pursuit of that “beloved community” where America “will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.”
Let’s all remind Mr. Trump that we are dissatisfied with the direction he continues to move America in this second term, reassuring him that it will be all of us who save this country, believing that, “progress comes from the choices we make together.”
Just in the first 10 months of his second administration, Mr. Trump has in effect tried “rolling back decades of momentous progress,” with the notion of “colorblindness for all.” Such “unpresidential” behavior creates an America “where only certain individuals will have a true opportunity to live out the American dream.”
These first 10 months of Trump’s second administration have brought immeasurable devastation to the American people, and it needs to stop.