Hot Mics and Hot Water. The Latest Trump Debacle

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Throughout his campaign, Donald Trump has made what would normally be considered blunders for any other politician. But, somehow, blunder after blunder, Trump really never seemed to lose support. That is, until recently. The purpose of this sample political essay from Ultius is to explore how an audio tape from 2005, and the fallout afterwards may be the final nail hammered into his political coffin. In 2005 an audio tape surfaced of Trump making derogatory and predatory statements towards women. Normally, Trump making derogatory statements wouldn't be news, but the nature of his statements in these tapes were truly shocking, and disturbing.

Hot mic gets Trump into hot water

Brian Stelter of CNN notes, how in the tape Trump was caught on a hot mic (a microphone that is still turned on or active) bragging about how he gropes, and kisses women. He goes on to brag about his affairs and sexual conquests with women other than his wife. The especially disturbing statement made by Trump on the tape was that his celebrity status allowed him to do “anything” to beautiful women. Trump brags “I don’t even wait. When you’re a star you can do anything… Grab them by the [expletive]. You can do anything.” (Stelter)

Of course this is just the newest statement by Trump that has him in hot water. The day after the tape was released, some of his biggest republican supporters either withdrew their support, or called for him to drop out of the Presidential race altogether. 

Former Republican presidential nominee John McCain released a statement via the New York Times saying,

“I have wanted to support the candidate our party nominated, but Donald Trump’s behavior this week, concluding with the disclosure of his demeaning comments about women and his boasts about sexual assaults, make it impossible to continue to offer even conditional support for his candidacy.” (Rappeport)

Carly Fiorina, and Gov. John Kasich who ran against Trump earlier in the republican primary both stated that Trump should step down. Condoleeza Rice, a former secretary of state posted that “…Trump Should not be President. He should withdraw.”

What is truly amazing though, is that Trump has a history of making outrageous statements throughout his campaign. Why is it just now republicans are revolting? 

History of Trumpism's

Since he kicked off his campaign for the 2016 presidential election, Trump has one made one derogatory statement after another. After all, this is the man who in his first campaign speech declared most Mexicans who cross the U.S. border are “rapists” (Hee Lee). Shouldn’t this have been a warning sign of what was to come? 

How is it possible that Trump even secured the nomination? The republican field running against him was too strong. There was another “Bush” running. There were experienced members of congress, senators, and other leaders in big business running. How could this out-spoken policy nightmare defeat them? By insulting them, it seems (Rupar). Let’s take a look at the various insults Trump threw at his opponents during his campaign.

Trump's insults directed at his own party 

• Jeb Bush: “A low energy kind of guy”.
• Rand Paul: “Didn’t get the right gene (from his father).”
• Carly Fiorina: “Look at that face. Why would anyone that? Could you imagine that, the face of our next President?”
• Marco Rubio: “Little Marco.”
• Ted Cruz: “Lyin’ Ted.” (Rupar)

Is this the kind of decorum we expect from a presidential nominee? Is this even the kind of decorum we expect from anyone in a position of power?

Trump: The Walking Debacle

Most Americans didn’t think Trump would have even close to as much success as he actually attained while running for President. Trump seemed destined to say something outrageous and shoot himself in the foot. The sentiment from most Americans was that he would do so and simply fizzle out.

Perhaps, Americans thought it would be funny to actually have someone like this in office for the pure humor of it. Late night talk shows were already getting an abundance of material from his campaign. Can you imagine the types of blunders they might capitalize on if he were to actually win?

The reality of the matter is that he didn’t simply fizzle out, although he did shoot himself in the foot multiple times. Trump just kept on continuing spitting out ridiculous statements, one after another, with no real consequences to his campaign. 

Was this the man we were truly considering to be President? Was Hillary Clinton so bad that this was really our only option? 

The general election is only one month out. We’re two debates down, and one left to go before voters let their voices finally be heard. Now, is also the time that Trump is taking the largest hit to his campaign. 

The hot mic incident

It wasn’t his negative statements on immigrants. It wasn’t his calls to completely close the boarders of the United States to Muslims entering the country (even if they were refugees desperate to escape an oppressive regime). It wasn’t his insults to the parents of a Muslim-American soldier who died fighting for the very country Trump is trying to run. 

The straw that seems to have broken the camel’s back was Trump’s stance that sexually assaulting a women was somehow okay if you’re a celebrity. It was the statements Trump was caught making on the entertainment television show, Access Hollywood's  hot mic, that finally got him into hot water. 

Trump must’ve realized the size of the hit his campaign would take, and issued an insincere apology the day after the tape was released, calling his statements “locker-room talk.” Even during his so-called “apology” Trump used to opportunity to list the past indiscretions of former president Bill Clinton, and went on to rant about his plan to defeat ISIS, never taking full accountability for his actions.

Republican revolt of Trump

Even after multiple businesses dumped "The Donald" after his announcement speech where he slammed Mexicans, GOP mainstays offered their support for him once he secured the nomination. This latest debacle from Trump though, has finally sparked the long-overdue outrage from fellow republicans that the rest of America has been experiencing. It seems that even the most hardcore republicans have a hard time standing up for candidate with such a soft stance on casual sexual assault. 

Since the release of tape containing Trump’s words about being able to do “anything he wanted to women”, more than thirty-six republicans in office withdrew their endorsements of Trump (Harthorne).

Trump’s replacement on Celebrity Apprentice, former republican Governor of California, and action-film icon, Arnold Schwarzenegger, said he won’t be voting for a republican presidential candidate this year.

In the vice-presidential debate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence seemed to be distancing himself from the man at the top of his ticket, and this was a week before the tape even got out. Lauren Kelley of Rolling Stone highlights some of the prominent republicans also backtracking away from Trump.

List of Republicans Denouncing Trump.

• John McCain
• Carly Fiorina
• Arnold Schwarzenegger
• Paul Ryan
• John Kasich
• Mike Lee
• Kelly Ayotte

If Americans were undecided before this tape was released, you’d think it’s release would help sway them the opposite direction. Trump still has his supporters, though. And, Trump, despite all this, has vowed not to drop out of the presidential race. 

Conclusion

In this sample essay from Ultius, we've covered just some of the deplorable things Donald Trump has said. Politics is a touchy subject, and essays on political subjects can be quite daunting. If you've enjoyed this read, consider buying a sample essay from Ultius next time you're taked with writing one. Our american writers can produce essays of oustanding quality on any subject, not just politics.

As we approach crunch-time in the election, it doesn’t seem like there’s much Trump can do to save face, or his campaign. Even if he were to concede early, there’s not much Trump can seem to do to appear humble or even appear to have a general sense of humility. If Trump won’t let a foot in his mouth stop him from making ludicris statements, perhaps a landslide vote against him will. Or, he could just go on about how the election was rigged against him, as he said he would should he lose. At least then, Americans could feel some comfort in knowing his statements are coming from someone who proved they weren't presidential enough to hold office.

Works Cited

Rupar, Aaron. "How Donald Trump Insulted His Way To The Top Of The GOP" Thinkprogress.org. 04 May. 2016.

Rappeport, Alan. "John McCain Withdraws Support for Donald Trump After Disclosure of Recording" The New York Times. 8 Oct. 2016.

Harthorne, Michael. "More Than Three Dozen GOP Lawmakers Un-Endorse Trump". Newser.com. 8 Oct. 2016.

Kelley, Lauren. "Republicans Who've Ditched Trump Since the 'Trump Tape'" Rolling Stone. 9 Oct. 2016. 

Stelter, Brian. "How the shocking hot mic tape of Donald Trump was exposed" CNN. 7 Oct. 2016. 

Ye Hee Lee, Michelle. "Donald Trump’s false comments connecting Mexican immigrants and crime" The Washington Post. 8 Jul. 2015.

Burns, Alexander. Haberman, Maggie. Parker, Ashely. "Donald Trump’s Confrontation With Muslim Soldier’s Parents Emerges as Unexpected Flash Point." The New York Times. 31 Jul. 2016.