By Sandra Fernandez
The opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.
Just over a week into the new presidency and things seem to have gone from bad to worse. After running his entire campaign on promising to send Hillary Clinton to jail for her use of a private email server, was anyone really surprised to find out that people within the Trump administration are using private emails? According to a Newsweek report, Kellyanne Conway, Sean Spicer and Steve Bannon had, up until recently, been using private RNC emails. In addition to this, Trump's Twitter account had been linked to a private Gmail account. That’s right… Gmail (celebrities, they’re just like us). Better yet—a recent poll showed that 42 percent of Trump supporters were okay with Trump’s team using private emails. That’s 42 percent of the people who chanted “lock her up” who don’t give a shit about private email servers anymore. If you’re starting to wonder whether its possible to die from too much irony, you’re not alone.
Unfortunately, there are many ways Trump is not being a hypocrite. In just a few days, he has managed to sign multiple executive orders that affect climate change, immigration, women’s health and the future of federal employees. Also being threatened is America’s involvement in the UN. All of these things are exactly what he promised during his campaign, so it should come as no surprise that he’s trying to follow through with his pledges to his supporters. It seems that most people didn’t take Trump seriously for the things he said during his rallies. Many of his supporters were surprised that he moved to restart work on the Dakota Access Pipeline and more recently, that he banned all refugees from seven mainly muslim nations as well as, visa holders and in some cases green card holders (permanent legal residents) from entering the U.S. This latest executive order has caused massive backlash from both parties. An outpour of former supporters have come out on social media describing how these policies negatively impacted them and regretting their vote. This Executive Order is by far the messiest and has had the most immediate effect, with multiple people being detained at airports around the country.
Saturday’s social media feeds and news outlets were full of stories about people who have lived in the U.S. legally for years being denied entry. People were taken off planes in other countries and told they would not be allowed to return. People who were visiting family overseas, have jobs, homes and families here were left not knowing if or when they would be able to come back. What happens to their jobs? Their houses? Their families? This ban is not only religiously discriminative, it’s reckless. Neither the DOJ nor the NSA had the opportunity to review the order before it was signed. Representatives of those agencies have come out against the ban stating it will not help fight terrorism on American soil, but instead hand terrorist groups a script for their propaganda initiatives. Others in elected offices have come out against it, saying that it goes against everything America stands for. House Speaker Paul Ryan and VP Mike Pence seem to not understand what a cyber footprint is, having contradicted their previous statements by supporting this order.
If only the hypocrisy of this administration worked in favor of America’s popular vote. Instead of executing carefully thought out policies with advice from experts, our President is launching investigations into nonexistent voter fraud and signing orders that pose a threat to our national security. Hope this is worth all those jobs, those big huge jobs, that will be created.
The multiple protests that continue to happen around the country are the perfect example of the power of democracy. If you're looking for more ways you can contribute to the fight against these unconstitutional bans, you can donate to the ACLU or call your representatives and speak up for what you believe in. Pick up the phone and force them to listen to how you want them to represent you—it’s what they should be doing in the first place.
