I identify as being very liberal, and, if given the opportunity to vote, I would not have cast a ballot for Donald Trump.  However, I have tried to do my best to stick to facts and make this article as balanced and unbiased as possible.  Any inherent bias in the article can be attributed to my personal political views.

The Religious Society of Friends has been around since before the first American president, and over the centuries, there has been little to no change with the religion’s core values known today as the SPICES: Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality, and Stewardship.

On November 8th, 2016, America elected Donald J. Trump to be the President of the United States.  After his 511 day campaign that some argue was one of the most hateful in recent history, the American public chose the businessman, reality TV star, and now politician to be their next president.   It seems fitting to examine how the views, policies, and controversy surrounding the President-Elect align with the values at the core of Quakerism.

A common thread during Trump’s campaign was the use of buzzwords, and frequent use of sweeping, non-specific, often unfounded claims to get his supporters excited.  When speaking of climate change, Trump said, “The hottest day ever was in 1890-something, 98.”  As explained by FactCheck.org, his claim was false, and his statement was “cherry-picking one day.”  Many would say that the President-Elect tends to make inaccurate claims with the goal of sparking a fire in the hearts of voters and rally attendees.  This tendency indicates a number of things, including his lack of integrity, and that he enjoys the feeling of speaking to a crowd.  He loves the feeling of making statements that excite people, often with the goal of unifying the crowd around a certain idea, which is an excellent method of building a community of support.   

However, the ideals around which many in this community have gathered are those of exclusion and inequality.  During his campaign, Trump showed himself to be a tremendously divisive candidate, and while he built a strong community of supporters, enough to win him the election, those who were not part of this community often felt blatantly excluded by the generally hateful and negative rhetoric, one that did not promote equality.

On October 22nd of this year, Trump’s campaign appeared to be struggling as Hillary Clinton, his opponent, surged in the polls.  That day, he gave a speech at Gettysburg that outlined what he called his Contract with the American Voter, his “100-day action plan to Make America Great Again. It is a contract between myself and the American voter – and begins with restoring honesty, accountability and change to Washington.”  (This excerpt was taken from a PBS writeup of Trump’s Contract.)  Within this contract was outlined six measures, five executive actions, and ten broader legislative measures that he insists are the best way to “restore prosperity to our economy, security to our communities, and honesty to our government.”  These actions included promises to renegotiate and possibly withdraw from trade deals such as NAFTA and the TPP, and proposed repeals of anti-fossil fuel tariffs, which would increase the production and use of fossil fuels and therefore aggravate the current climate crisis.  Trump believes climate change is non-existent, although 97% of scientists have reached consensus on the fact that human activity is primarily responsible for global warming, according to FactCheck.org.

Since he was elected, Trump has indicated the specific actions he wants to complete on his first day in office: Withdraw from the TPP, stop ‘job-killing’ restrictions on jobs in shale energy and clean coal, and impose a measure ensuring that for every new regulation, two old regulations must be eliminated.  These pointed goals indicate that the initial emphasis of Trump’s presidency will be on cutting red tape in an attempt to stimulate the United States economy.  Though some question the feasibility of these acts and whether the benefits outweigh the risks, Trump’s big-picture objective seems to be to strengthen America as a nation, thereby creating a stronger economy and a greater sense of community within this country.

A deeply concerning turn of events since the election has been the increase of hateful, destructive, and violent acts.  In the days and weeks following the election, mostly peaceful anti-Trump protests occurred across the country in various cities, often using the phrases ‘not my president’ and ‘love trumps hate’ to express themselves. However, some of these marches turned to riots as enraged people took out their anger from the election on private property.  The Washington Post and many other news sources reported flag burnings, many outside of Trump properties, and oregonlive.com noted that riots in Portland, OR resulted in $1 million of damage to property.

On the other hand, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) reported that, “In the ten days following the election, there were almost 900 reports of harassment and intimidation from across the nation. Many harassers invoked Trump’s name during assaults, making it clear that the outbreak of hate stemmed in large part from his electoral success.”  People have been assaulted verbally and through the use of graffiti, and in rare cases, physical altercations have occurred.  In Dover, just days after the election, a black woman was reportedly confronted by four white males who came up to her at a gas station and began threatening her with statements such as, “I should just kill you right now; you’re a waste of air; you’re lucky there are witnesses or else I’d shoot you right here.”

Data collected by the SPLC indicated that 23 out of 867 reports of hate incidents, only 2%, were driven by anti-Trump sentiments.  The rest were largely motivated by hatred towards minority groups, including black people, immigrants, and those who identify as LGBTQIA+.

The SPLC argues that the alarming rise in outwardly expressed hatred towards minorities will not be halted by Trump saying, “Stop it!” into a camera, as he did during his post-election 60 Minutes interview.  Instead, they assert that he must acknowledge that “his own words have opened ‘wounds of division’ in our country” and “speak out forcefully and repeatedly against all forms of bigotry and reach out to the communities his words have injured.”

While Trump and his campaign did try and deter extremists, SPLC’s view is that much more should have been done.  Failure to definitively distance Trump from racial extremists would seem to be wrong from the Quaker viewpoint.  The data indicates that Trump has caused not peace, but hatred and violence to come out in pockets across the nation.

There is much evidence that Donald Trump as a private citizen was not a proponent of Quaker values.  He used $20,000 from his own charity to purchase a portrait of himself which now hangs in a golf club in Scotland.  But how will Donald Trump the President act?  Will his policies and views observe Quaker philosophy.  His campaign indicates that his presidency could be lacking peace, integrity, stewardship, equality, and simplicity, but if his 100-day and updated first-day plan are any indication, he will be upholding to the Quaker value of community and the American value of patriotism by doing his best to oversee, as he puts it, “a government of, by and for the people.”