The only challenge here was limiting myself to 10 arguments against Donald Trump (and one good reason to vote for Kamala Harris). So, drum roll, working toward No. 1:
10: As president, he violated his oath to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.”
Ask Mike Pence, who forfeited his place as Trump’s ticket mate to Ohio Sen. JD Vance because Pence wouldn’t violate the Constitution; Vance would. Even after leaving office, Trump called for terminating parts of it so he could regain power. No one should think he’d keep the oath if given a second chance, especially when the Supreme Court that he packed has ruled that presidents are virtually immune from prosecution.
Opinion Columnist
Jackie Calmes
Jackie Calmes brings a critical eye to the national political scene. She has decades of experience covering the White House and Congress.
9: He still won’t say that he’ll accept the voters’ verdict.
And that is still unprecedented. Trump has gravely eroded Americans’ faith in the elections that are fundamental to democracy. He lied after his 2016 victory in the electoral college that he lost the popular vote only because up to 5 million people voted illegally for Hillary Clinton. His efforts to flip his 2020 loss to Joe Biden got him criminally indicted, another first.
8: He will be held accountable for his alleged crimes as president only if he is defeated.
If reelected, Trump can order “his” Justice Department to bury the two federal cases that he succeeded in delaying past the election — the Washington trial for allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 election, and the case in Florida for allegedly making off with and hiding top government secrets. A third case in Georgia, state charges for attempting to subvert its 2020 vote for Biden, could well be shelved if he were back in office.
7: He’d be the first president with a serious rap sheet.
Trump has been found guilty or liable for sexual abuse, defamation, civil financial fraud and criminal business fraud to conceal a tryst with a porn star. He’s also the first president to be impeached twice, justifiably. Character counts: Voters should not hire for president someone who wouldn’t be hired by any private employer in the land.
6: He’s unfit to be president.
Take it from scores of former top advisors, including nearly half of the 42 people who served in Trump’s Cabinet. The early Cabinet members he once called “my generals”? James N. Mattis, H.R. McMaster and John F. Kelly all broke with their former commander in chief. Even those who back Trump have damned him: Former Atty. Gen. William Barr said Trump “shouldn’t be anywhere near the Oval Office” and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley called him “unhinged.” Let those two shape-shifters put party over country to vote for Trump. Voters shouldn’t.
5: He’s a threat to national security.
Trump is “the most dangerous person to this country,” Mark A. Milley, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says in Bob Woodward’s new book. He’s more likely to be seduced by murderous autocrats than stand up to them. He’s poised to appease war criminal Vladimir Putin and reward Russia’s lawless invasion by abandoning Ukraine. Woodward reports that Trump has had seven calls with Putin since leaving office, suggesting a treacherous willingness to undermine allies’ support for Ukraine, Europe’s security and U.S. alliances generally. He encouraged Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to NATO members who miss defense spending targets. As Foreign Affairs reported: “His first term tested the transatlantic relationship — but his second would break it.”
4: He doesn’t know or care how to constructively address the nation’s problems.
The most policy-ignorant candidate in memory, Trump turned to the extremists behind Project 2025 for a blueprint, though he denies it now. Deal maker? He lacks the attention span, grasp of details and spirit of compromise to enact bipartisan laws. In a Wall Street Journal survey, most economists predicted that inflation, interest rates and deficits would be much higher under his proposed tax cuts and tariffs than under Harris’ policies. (And, no, Trump’s tariffs wouldn’t cut child-care costs.) He had Republicans kill an immigration bill to keep the issue alive for his demagogic campaign. His solution: “bloody” deportations of millions of migrants.
3: He’d further pack the federal courts with right-wing ideologues.
To confirm his picks, Trump would be helped, again, by what is expected to be a Republican-majority Senate. Again, he’d choose young nominees to serve for decades: “You don’t put old in, because they’re there for two years or three years,” he said last week. The Supreme Court’s far-right justices, Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr., would likely retire so Trump could seat much-younger, like-minded replacements.
2. He’s a pathological liar.
Trump’s constant lies range from the relatively harmless to life-threatening. Residents of Springfield, Ohio, endured school and hospital closures amid bomb threats after Trump lied that Haitian migrants would eat their pets. Federal hurricane responders in the South were threatened after Trump lied about the Biden administration rescue effort. Local governments are spending tax dollars to protect nonpartisan election workers. Americans prominent and obscure have been forced to get security against death threats after Trump’s mendacious attacks. But more prosaically: Citizens should expect truth from their presidents.
1. He was not, and would not be, a president for all Americans.
Not MAGA? Not worthy. Trump talks of withholding disaster aid from blue states. He assails Democrats, other domestic critics and the free press as “the enemy within,” subject to possible military action.
Finally, the bonus, a positive reason to vote Harris. She’s not only among the most experienced applicants for the job ever, but also: She’s not Trump.