Graphic by Suncana Pavlic.
By JOHANNA HALL – Broadcast Executive Producer
Broadcast Executive Producer compiles Republican Presidential Nominee Donald Trump’s stances on Immigration, the environment, gun control and other controversial topics.
Donald John Trump (R-N.Y.) has a career in business not politics, so he has a lack of political history compared to past presidential candidates.
He has identified with different party affiliations throughout his life; first leaning Republican, then supporting the Reform party for a time, then changing gears from 2001-2008, when he leaned more towards Democratic ideas.
In 2009, he shifted back to more conservative Republican ideologies.
In 2011, Trump became notorious for his skepticism regarding President Barack Obama’s citizenship, refusing to admit the legitimacy of his birth certificate and presidency for five years until Sept. 16, when he announced his change of stance.
Now, Trump has become one of the most controversial presidential candidates in political history.
IMMIGRATION
“I’ll get Mexico to pay for (the wall) one way or the other. I guarantee you that… People are pouring across our borders unabated. Public reports routinely state great amounts of crime are being committed by illegal immigrants. This must be stopped and it must be stopped now.”
Trump believes Mexico is forcing their unwanted people on the US, and that many illegal Mexican immigrants are criminals, drug dealers, rapists and gang members. Though Trump has employed undocumented workers with H-1B visas, he now believes these visas are hurting US workers and need to be taken away.
In order to combat illegal immigration, Trump supports keeping a database of all Muslims refugees and temporarily banning Muslims from the US. He believes the US is partially responsible for the Syrian refugee crisis, but will refuse to allow any Syrian refugees into the country if elected.
Trump believes there should be no path to citizenship for undocumented workers, but the US should allow college graduates to stay and allow more immigration from Europe. If elected, he plans to ship millions of undocumented immigrants back to Mexico, and will do something “very severe” to Mexico until they give the US money to pay for a border wall.
GUN CONTROL
“Democrats want to confiscate all guns, which is a dumb idea because only the law-abiding citizens would turn in their guns and the bad guys would be the only ones left armed.”
Trump is a strong supporter of the second amendment. He believes guns make the United States safer, and has advocated for concealed-carry permits in every state. He has said that gun violence is inevitable, and regulations will not help.
He believes the issues that surround gun violence do not stem from having guns, but rather from mental health issues. In order to combat gun violence, he has proposed more focus on mental health issues and no guns for people on the terrorist watch list.
THE ENVIRONMENT
“Snowing in Texas and Louisiana, record setting freezing temperatures throughout the country and beyond. Global warming is an expensive hoax!”
Trump views climate change as a more insignificant issue in the US right now. He believes the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is a waste of money and believes China invented the concept of Global Warming.
Trump would like to see fewer regulations on oil drilling and would like to increase coal mining in the US. If elected, he promised to pull the US out of the Paris Climate Change Agreement and reverse most of the Obama administration’s environmental policies.
LGBTQ+ RIGHTS
“There can be no discrimination against gays. I’m against gay marriage.”
In April, Trump announced his opposition to the North Carolina HB2 act that states transgender people must use the bathroom of their assigned birth gender.
In response to this, he said transgender people should be able to use the bathroom of their choice, but he recently went back on this statement, saying states should decide whether or not to let a transgender person to use the bathroom of their choice.
Trump is against gay marriage, favoring “traditional marriage” between a man and woman. However, he respects the supreme court decision to legalize gay marriage and says he would be against a constitutional amendment allowing states to overturn the decision.
