In the wise words of Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), President Donald Trump is a “race-baiting, xenophobic bigot.” While the Senator has doubled back on this 2016 statement, much of America still holds it to be true. We’ve been watching closely as President Trump led our country these past four years.

We watched him downplay the death of a woman at the hands of a white supremacist by saying that there were “very fine people on both sides” of the protest. We watched as he permanently slashed corporate taxes but included a temporary individual tax break to win over the hearts and minds of average Americans. We watched as he got into a mudslinging fight with Kim Jong Un, a dangerous totalitarian dictator with a nuclear arsenal capable of reaching the United States. We watched as he and Vice President Pence condoned families being ripped apart at the border, as well as the terrible conditions in which these would-be immigrants were being held.

We watched as his administration became a revolving door of criminals, evildoers and corruption. We watched as he mocked American veterans like John McCain, who gave everything they possibly could in service to this country. We watched as he defended the actions of a 17-year old militia member who murdered two people in cold blood. We watched as he gutted racial bias training, all while ordering the violent dispersal of peaceful demonstrators just so he could get a photo-op. Perhaps most importantly, we’ve watched him disregard and ignore a virus that has killed over 200,000 Americans.  

It doesn’t take a visionary to see what’s wrong with our country. He’s 6-foot 3-inches, orange, obnoxious, loud, idiotic and narcissistic. He was impeached for an alleged quid pro quo in which he solicited political favors from Ukraine in exchange for foreign aid. He nominated an alleged rapist to the highest court in the land. Our president, Donald Trump, represents the worst of our country.

America has had a long and storied history. We’ve undoubtedly had rough patches, and we undoubtedly still have much work to do. President Trump is the only president in American history that has worked to leave America worse off than it was when he first took office. Limited vocabulary aside, Trump is a “president…who does not try to unite the American people — does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us.” The words of General Jim Mattis, Ret., who served as President Trump’s first Secretary of Defense, speak truth to power. All President Trump cares about is preserving his ego and making himself look good. If we want an end to this unacceptable behavior, we absolutely must vote him and his cronies out of office.

Our work does not end with the political demise of Donald Trump. We must vote out people like Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) who sells herself as a moderate Republican, but votes with President Trump’s platform 95 percent of the time.  She also voted to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who faced credible accusations of sexual assault during his confirmation hearings. We must vote out Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who set a precedent in 2016 not to confirm new justices in the same year as a presidential election, only to move to get Amy Coney Barrett confirmed before Justice Ginsburg’s body was cold.

Republicans can fearmonger about “far-left” Democrats until they run out of breath, but the reality is that Donald Trump has catapulted his party to the far right. He has somehow made the most bizarre and hateful comments made by a president in history seem like commonplace and non-newsworthy.  Because of the Republican Party’s determined efforts to regress American society, liberals and leftists must view the 2020 election as an opportunity to hurl America forward and make up for lost time under the Trump administration.

Joe Biden is not the perfect candidate. He’s old, perhaps out-of-touch and definitely has some skeletons in the closet (I’m looking at you, Violent Crime and Control Enforcement Act). But Joe Biden has served our country with more class and distinction than Donald Trump could ever imagine having. He has concrete plans for America concerning climate change, slashing the national debt and making rich Americans pay their fair share in taxes. He wants to tackle COVID-19 instead of pretending it doesn’t exist. He even supports statehood for Washington, D.C.

It will take more than a vote for Joe Biden to fix the problems in our country. With a caring and involved electorate, we can make the United States a true country by the people and for the people. To be effective, political activism cannot fade. It must remain persistent and ever present, like an invisible mosquito, constantly endeavoring to hold our politicians accountable for their actions and, more importantly, for their votes. The journey towards this reality begins on November 3. To use the words of Senator Graham once more: “You know how you make America great again?”

“Tell Donald Trump to go to hell.”