Elias Atienza is a history freshman. Opinion pieces do not reflect the viewpoints or editorial coverage of Mustang News. This piece does not represent the Cal Poly College Republicans.
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As a young conservative and member of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo College Republicans, my views have often clashed with some members of the College Republicans. I constantly preach restrained foreign policy, no to unconstitutional spying, and don’t favor surveillance on mosques. I also don’t want to ban Muslims from entering the United States. But several Trump supporters within the College Republicans do want to ban them from entering, and at least one is bigoted toward Muslims.
It’s an interesting thing, observing and being in these clashes. Just last week my clash with several Trump supporters ended with a bang, with me storming out at the end of the meeting. I have never been in such a political clash; people who ignore one’s background and cover up for their inconsistency. But it allowed me to get into the head of a Trump supporter.
To them, Trump is the new Reagan. They are quick to point out that Ronald Reagan was a former Democrat. They fail to mention the fact that Reagan waited 20 years before running for president and didn’t endorse Jimmy Carter over Gerald Ford. Reagan was a good president, and Donald Trump is no Ronald Reagan. They don’t care that Donald Trump donated to Harry Reid, Rahm Emanuel or Nancy Pelosi. They call him a businessman, despite businessmen like George Soros, Sheldon Adelson and the Koch Brothers donating to only causes that they align with and not to the Clinton Foundation. (New York they say!)
You call him out on his support for socialized healthcare, progressive taxation and Planned Parenthood, and they still cling to the man like he’s a damn lifeboat and the United States is a sinking ship. You mention that he slammed John McCain for being captured in the Vietnam War and they could care less. They worship Trump because he isn’t politically correct. Because he allows them to have an avenue in which their thoughts can finally come through. He’s a YouTube comment sections come to life. (Let’s not forget the fact that Trump has breathed new life into white supremacy groups.)
They don’t give a damn about illegal immigrants and they want them all deported. They don’t give a damn about any Muslims, and though I didn’t dig into it, I suspect that they would be fine with deporting all 2 million Muslims if they could. They all say they love the Constitution, and yet, when you bring up freedom of religion, freedom from surveillance and the impracticality of Trump’s plans, they brush that aside and call you a liberal (and the irony doesn’t occur to them).
When Nikki Haley called out Trump in her State of the Union Address, I supported that. When Paul Ryan, who is otherwise neutral in the presidential race, called out Trump for proposing the Muslim ban, I cheered that. But I also watched in sadness and despair. No matter what you say and no matter what you do, Trump supporters tighten their support of him. It’s disheartening to watch the party fail to return to its roots of individual rights, limited government and free-market capitalism.
Instead we have a man who is against individual rights, limited government, and free-market capitalism.
Donald Trump isn’t a conservative by any stretch of the imagination. And his supporters couldn’t give any less of a damn. I’m tired of being against Trump, calling him out on everything. I’m tired of trying to show them that Trump is everything that a Republican should hate. If he is the Republican nominee, I will burn my Republican registration. I will campaign against the Republican front-runner because he is a megalomaniac who is dangerous for America. I will vote libertarian or Bernie Sanders.
I have been saying this for months and I’ll say it again: Trump supporters, you are just like Obama supporters. You worship him and to you he can do no wrong. And that is something we cannot live with.
If he is the nominee come August, I will write off the Republican Party forever.
As Paul Ryan said back in November, ‘This is not conservatism.”