The difference between Obama and Trump is perfectly explained with one question.
The differences between President Barack Obama and presidential wannabe Donald Trump could not be more stark. There are even photos showing Pres. Obama putting Trump to shame.
There is an article published shortly before the 2016 election by Quartz titled: “In praise of a president who offered America eight dignified years free of sex scandals.”
This was contrasted the next day by an article published by The Atlantic titled: ““The Many Scandals of Donald Trump: A Cheat Sheet.”
There is one area where the two have overlapped – both have participated in “Ask Me Anything” chats on Reddit.
As Mic reports, “The differences between United States President Barack Obama and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump are legion, but nothing can distill the political gulf between two men quite as well as a good old-fashioned Reddit AMA,” and one question in particular stands out.
In 2013 President Obama was asked: “What are you going to do to end the corrupting influence of money in politics during your second term?” To which he responded:
Money has always been a factor in politics, but we are seeing something new in the no-holds barred flow of seven and eight figure checks, most undisclosed, into super-PACs: they fundamentally threaten to overwhelm the political process over the long run and drown out the voices of ordinary citizens. We need to start with passing the Disclose Act that is already written and been sponsored in Congress – to at least force disclosure of who is giving to who. We should also pass legislation prohibiting the bundling of campaign contributions from lobbyists. Over the longer term, I think we need to seriously consider mobilizing a constitutional amendment process to overturn Citizens United (assuming the Supreme Court doesn’t revisit it). Even if the amendment process falls short, it can shine a spotlight of the super-PAC phenomenon and help apply pressure for change.
Asked “What is your plan for reducing or removing the influence of money on politics,” Trump responded: “Keeping Crooked Hillary Clinton out of the White House!”
Obama's AMA vs. Trump's AMA, h/t @reddit pic.twitter.com/LpKkpFr2jJ
— Cooper Fleishman (@_Cooper) July 28, 2016
So, President Obama talks about specific solutions such as overturning the Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United and passing the Disclose Act which is aimed at making corporate and interest group campaign donations disclosures mandatory.
As Mic explains, “Trump, on the other hand, doesn’t mention anything about Citizen’s United, or the corrupting influence of money in politics, for that matter. Instead, he chooses to respond with an ad hominem attack on Clinton, his political rival — and, in the process, fails to address the substantive issue in a meaningful way.”
That is the difference between being presidential and being a wannabe.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login