CHAPTER 1: What’s the Matter with Trump?
Trump is the most unpopular president since we started keeping track. He’s never gotten even half the people to like him.
King Trump. Trump thinks he has absolute power over Americans.
Trump lies a lot. The Washington Post clocks him at making an average of 15 “false or misleading” statements every day of his presidency. Even his hair is dishonest.
Trump wants to make America unfair again. America has struggled its whole life to make things fairer for everyone. We, the People, made real progress in the last 75 years. Trump wants to undo it. He judges women on their looks. He makes fun of the disabled. He says Mexican men attack women. He likes to call Blacks thugs and other insulting nonsense.
Trump cheats. His companies broke rules. He didn’t pay back what he owed. He asked for money for charity and spent it on himself. He kissed other women while he was married.
Trump is mean, angry, and unpredictable. President Trump is the kid your parents don’t want you to be. He’s a bully. He brags and complains.
Trump ignores real problems. His job is to fix complicated situations. Instead he pretends they’re simple or not real. I don’t see you, climate change, healthcare, inequality, Covid-19, or Blacks killed by cops.
Trump speaks terribly in rivers of undisciplined words, bragging and blaming.
Trump has hurt people as president. This list is long and depressing: women, journalists, Mexicans, peaceful protesters, Blacks, Muslims, people who don’t conform to traditional gender roles, experts of any kind and the disabled.
Trump disrespects science and history.
Is It Okay To Make Fun of the President?
Yes! Absolutely! That’s practically why we invented America.
Before America, people had kings. If you made fun of a king, he could kill you. King George III ruled over us from England. He wanted Americans to pay for his big war against France. To be fair, the English did kick the French out of Ohio for us. But England and France are always fighting. We didn’t want to pay but didn’t get any say.
So we fought a war: the American Revolution. Then everyone copied us. People around the world fought to get rid of kings for the next 150 years or so. That’s how cool an idea it was.
After we dumped our British king in 1783, some people wondered if George Washington should be king. He said no way. We wanted to pick the best, smartest, most honest person. The guys who invented America (let’s call them The Guys) were scared. They didn’t trust letting everyone vote. They feared a popular idiot would ruin their country. (It was as if someone had shown them that Trump was coming.)
So they set up a country where laws are more important than the leader. The Constitution, the main law, decides how the government works and which laws are okay. And in the Constitution, The Guys set up all kinds of rules and traps to catch a popular crook.
They tried to rig the system so popular con men couldn’t win (the Electoral College). Then The Guys set up a way to get rid of bad presidents (Impeachment). Let’s make sure no foreign government is paying him, The Guys said (the Emoluments Clause). Let’s make sure that reporters can investigate him (Freedom of the Press). And let’s also make sure that people can protest (Freedom of Assembly) and make fun of him (Freedom of Speech).
So yes, it’s patriotic to make fun of the president.
