Editorial: The Pitt News endorses Hillary Clinton for President

At the risk of accusations that we’ve misquoted him, we’ve let the candidate we’re not endorsing speak for himself.

“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best … They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.”

• This line is how Donald Trump launched his campaign in June 2015. Illegal immigration in 2015 was the lowest since 1972, and Pew Research Center statistics show crime among first-generation immigrants is significantly lower than the overall crime rate.

“You’re living in poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs, 58 percent of your youth is unemployed — what the hell do you have to lose?”

• Trump made this appeal to black voters while speaking in a predominately white Michigan suburb.

“Maybe he should have been roughed up, because it was absolutely disgusting what he was doing.”

• The black man Trump referred to was shouting “Black Lives Matter” at a rally before being assaulted by Trump supporters and supposedly called a “monkey” along with other racial slurs.

“[I am] calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.”

• There are 1.6 billion Muslims globally, and according to the Pew Research Center, no country with a large Muslim population has less than an 85 percent unfavorability rate toward ISIS.

“It is always a great honor to be so nicely complimented by a man so highly respected within his own country and beyond.”

• One of many such instances, Trump praised Russian President Vladimir Putin’s compliments of him last December. Putin has faced widespread accusations of suppressing political opponents and holds an international reputation as a militaristic demagogue.

“You’ve got to get everybody to go out and watch, and go out and vote. And when [I] say ‘watch,’ you know what I’m talking about, right? You know what I’m talking about… The only way [Democrats] can beat [me], in my opinion…is if in certain sections of [Pennsylvania] they cheat.”

• Vigilante poll watchers have not been encouraged by major political candidates since before the Voting Rights Act of 1965, when Southern monitors commonly intimidated black people attempting to vote.

“You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.”

• Trump claimed he meant there was blood coming from the nose of Megyn Kelly, Fox News anchor and moderator of the first GOP primary debate who directly questioned Trump’s policy platform and his record with women. Kelly did not have a nosebleed during the debate.

“Look at [Carly Fiorina’s] face! Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next next president? I mean, she’s a woman, and I’m not supposed to say bad things, but really, folks, come on. Are we serious?”

• Physical attributes are not enumerated in the qualifications for President of the United States.

“Believe me, she would not be my first choice.”

• Trump rejected claims by Jessica Leeds, who accused Trump of groping her on an airplane in 1980, insisting she’s not attractive enough for him to assault. Eight other women came out with similar allegations within the same week.

“You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful [women] — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything … Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.”

• Nonconsensual kissing or groping of genitals is sexual assault. According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, 284,000 Americans are raped or sexually assaulted each year — about one person every two minutes. Trump calls this “locker room talk.”

Donald Trump’s words are not just “locker room talk,” nor are they irrelevant, off-the-cuff remarks. He is running for President of the United States, and as such, his words have the potential to incite violence and ostracize large swaths of the American public — including almost 51 percent of U.S. citizens who are women.

Come Nov. 8, The Pitt News editorial board will stand with Hillary Clinton. To do anything else would simply be irresponsible.