Let’ start with Mr. Trump, who has had multiple
marriages and is an adulterer, of which he boasted in his first book. One is
reminded of Our Lord’s words to the Samaritan woman: “Jesus said to
her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The
fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your
husband.” Trump has made much of his fortune on the back of human imperfections
via gambling casinos. His Atlantic City casino featured a virtual strip club.
(Keep in mind that one who spends thousands of dollars in casinos that one’s
family needs commits a sin (Catechism of the Catholic Church 2413).
Trump’s business successes have been supplemented by shady
business practices (many of which have led to lawsuits), problematic
associations, loan defaults, the use of political contacts to get what he wants
(as with the much-publicized attempt to have eminent domain entreated against a widow who wouldn’t sell her property so he could expand his Atlantic City
casino), and a tendency to pressure those who get in his way. (Recall the
lawsuit he filed against the Miss USA beauty pageant contestant who went public
with evidence that the results were pre-determined).
Trump is not the only 2016 presidential candidate about whom
serious character problems can be raised. The American public commonly views
Hillary Clinton as dishonest, but she’s still the Democratic front runner.
The Clinton shadiness is almost legendary. Think on her
behavior in the Benghazi episode, the mounting evidence about abuse of her
personal email accounts in apparent violation of espionage laws while Secretary
of State, and the questions surrounding foreign contributions to the Clinton Foundation
and influence buying—all seem to have done little to wound her politically. It
seems that for a substantial segment of the electorate, all this is irrelevant
(though we await her possible indictment).
What of her opponent? Bernie Sanders, apart from his radical
past, has written
about female rape fantasies; divorced his first wife; fathered a child out
of wedlock by another woman with whom he cohabited; had an irregular work
history before being elected to public office when nearly forty; has a
reputation for profligacy; and is now married to a woman who identifies as a
Catholic, but is divorced from the father of her children. That he has adhered
to his socialism throughout his adult life perhaps says the most about his
character.
It indicates a willful resistance to getting a sound
intellectual formation, being a student of history, and properly shaping one’s
views about the world. (The literature about the problems with socialism and
the historical examples of its failures are plentiful--he should start with the
encyclicals Quod Apostolici Muneris and Quadragesimo
Anno).
To return to Donald Trump: many good people,
including Catholics, have been attracted to the Trump campaign because he has
taken up issues of legitimate concern: wage stagnation, grossly incompetent
governance, wasteful governmental spending, the collapse of immigration law,
inept foreign policy, stifling “political correctness”—etc. Trump, however, is distinctly
unfit to be president. His entreaties to racial and ethnic fears are offensive
to any true Catholic sensibility. He promised to order U.S. military personnel
to torture terrorist suspects and to kill terrorists’ families — actions
condemned by the Church and policies that would bring shame upon our country. May
we derive from his career thus far any confidence that he genuinely shares Catholic
commitments to the right to life, to religious freedom, to rebuilding the marriage culture, or to the principle of subsidiarity and limited constitutional government?
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