Exclusive Interview by Karen Beishuizen
Julie is 59 and lives in New York. She is a professor.
KB: Why do you dislike or even hate Trump?
My individual feelings toward Trump are irrelevant; the problem is that he’s bad for the country. He’s dishonest, he’s easily corrupted, and he has a track record of hostility toward anyone not white, male and Christian. Once dishonesty, corruption, and hostility take root, it’s like crab grass–very hard to get out. Before you know it, you’ll have to bribe the DMV to get a driver’s license renewed, or you’ll have to be white to enroll your kid in the local elementary school, or your signed contract will be unenforceable, because everyone lies and a signature means nothing and the judge is in some rich dude’s pocket.
KB: How do you view his supporters?
Again, my personal views are irrelevant. Trump has support from nearly half of active voters. That tells me that half of America has not really thought through what it’s like to live under a corrupt government. I suppose they all think they are the exceptions, that while everyone else will be at the mercy of arbitrary, vengeance-driven, religiously ultra-orthodox, or venial authorities, they themselves will somehow be exempt. Expect the loudest complaints about how dysfunctional our government is to come from the people who voted for dysfunction.
KB: Why should Trump never be President again?
We can do better than a convicted felon, sexual assaulter, and spendthrift in the White House.
KB: Why is America better off without Trump?
The rule of law is one of those abstractions that’s very hard to get people riled up about, but it’s central to the functionality of a democracy. If people see that they’re treated differently, that only some of us have to follow the rules, that some of us are punished even when we do follow the rules, that some of us can’t vote, then our democracy will disintegrate and we will officially be in an authoritarian state. The economic impacts will be huge; the dollar is the world’s reserve currency because other countries believe we’re honest when we report statistics or broker trades, when we send inspectors out or sign treaties. As President, Trump ripped up the Paris Accord on climate and the Iran nuclear arms deal. Now the Missouri is flooding and Iran could build a nuke in a couple of days, as opposed to needing over a year if the deal had stayed in place. Worse, his dishonesty and corruption threatens whether the signature on a deal or treaty means anything if it’s from the U.S. President, even when the President is not Trump.
KB: Why should people vote Blue in the upcoming elections?
What a wild political ride we’re having! I’m amazed and, like so many other Americans, newly energized. The choice we face couldn’t be more stark. On the one hand, we can renew a system and affirm a set of values that puts fairness first, that, for all its flaws and stumbles over the past 250 years, acts on the belief that all are created equal. If we like this option, Democrats and Kamala Harris are our only choice. On the other hand, we can dismantle our system and replace it with minority rule, concentrating power in the hands of a few mega-rich people and the clerics of a hard-right Christian fringe. We must actively make this choice, collectively make this choice, and not just slide. The verb “slide” often gets paired with “autocracy,” as in “slide into autocracy.” Dismantling democracy will only win if too many people sit out the election. While the Supreme Court has teed up minority rule for Republicans should they win, we still have the power to choose our representatives. Let’s use it to elect Democrats up and down the ballot.
KB: Why are you a Democrat and how do you view the Republican Party?
The Democratic Party stands for the little guy. We believe in basic fairness. We believe that, given the opportunity, someone from humble origins can do great things. We believe that everyone does better if we operate from a position of caring for all, even our most vulnerable and despised, as opposed to operating from selfish gain. We believe there’s more to life than making a buck by any means necessary. Our public school system is a product of these values. Without it, most of us would still be signing our names with an X, as my great-grandfather and -mother did. Widespread literacy benefits business. The Chamber of Commerce should stop and think about how Democratic values and the shared tax burden for public education trains their workforce for free. If they genuinely prefer a Christian Taliban, they need to prepare for widespread illiteracy, poverty, and the removal of 50% of the population (women) from the workforce. Good luck with capitalism under those conditions!
KB: 500 writers signed an open letter to stop Donald Trump in 2016. You were the one of them. Would you do it again this year?
Absolutely. Donald Trump would be even more dangerous for our country in 2025 than we feared he’d be in 2017, because he’s figured out many of the levers of power and has a team of loyalists to help him use them.
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