Mano a mano

The Trump tapes

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks to media following an RNC Debate hosted in Detroit on March 3.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks to media following an RNC Debate hosted in Detroit on March 3. Photo by: Keith Salowich | Editor in Chief

Pro-Trump
Jonny Parshall
Copy Editor

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has come under serious scrutiny following the release of tapes of him admitting to kissing, groping and fondling women and showing no shame about it.

And that’s putting it rather delicately. In his words, “when you’re a star they let you do it.”

Since then, he’s been labeled everything from insensitively sexist to a flat-out rapist, and the women have been labeled as victims.

But we need to back up a little.

“When you’re a star they let you do it.”

Sadly, he’s right. There are people in this world—some of them women—who like to chase fame and flirt with celebrities. Before he was ever a nominee for anything, Trump was just another billionaire real estate tycoon. And the thought of a billion dollars turns a lot of people on; enough to put their guard down in terms of personal boundaries.

I’m not saying Trump is the wonderboy white knight he probably believes himself to be. I’m saying he’s only a fraction as bad as some media outlets are trying to paint him to be. Who are we to judge when we only have pieces of the story without context or actually being there?

Trump is suffering from something referred to as “typical beta male boasting,” or as he called it, “locker room talk.” It’s where a man with little to know “game” talks a big “game,” and admits to sexual acts or prowess exponentially greater than actuality. Many men are guilty of it, including many that you know (maybe even yourself, yes I’m pointing at you, sir, with the glasses and fedora.).

Maybe he did touch a breast, or kiss someone on the mouth, or talk sex with a single mom from Connecticut or whatever. Does he really seem the guy to have forcibly done so? Or do you think it might’ve been instigated just a teensy weensy bit? Is it truly villainous to brag such acts or just mildly pathetic?

I wish I had answers to all of these questions. What I do have is the knowledge that during a campaign, a nominee will use every weapon in their arsenal to expose the opposition as awful human beings. It’s an embarrassment game, and Trump has enough of that to feed a family of 12. Hillary’s experience with Bill in the past proved it’s an effective one.

And sometimes—not necessarily this time—but sometimes, people will accept money to either commit acts or admit to acts that were far milder than reported or wholly fabricated.

Come November, we should worry less about a person’s record with the opposite sex and more about a person’s record with political policy. We’re not voting for “#1 Dad,” we’re voting for the person to sit down face-to-face with the likes of Vladimir Putin.

Putin doesn’t give a shit about your “game.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: The author would like to note that he is not in favor of Trump’s actions but chose this topic as a means of showing unbiased, expository debate. Please keep hate mail to a minimum.


 

No-Trump
Megan Hiler
Torch Reporter

Last week, a video was released starring Donald Trump—the republican presidential nominee—making comments about the actions he likes to take around “beautiful women.” Such as he “can’t help but kissing them” and “grabbing them by the pussy.”

As horrifyingly disgusting and upsetting as this is, it was in no way a surprise that Trump said these things. From making comments about his own daughter and walking into the dressing rooms of the Miss Teen America Pageant, to all of the sexual assault allegations, he has long had an obsession with women’s bodies. I am not sure who made him the judge of all that is beautiful, but it is something he seems to take pretty seriously.

Trump made an attempt to defend his abhorrent comments by saying they were simply “locker room talk,” meaning that its okay because that’s how all men talk when women aren’t around!

But this is NOT okay and this is NOT “locker room talk.” This is a misogynistic Neanderthal who is saying what he means. Athletes don’t talk about this in locker rooms, they talk about the sport or game they are playing. This is simply how Trump believes women should be treated, as mere objects to be groped, looked at and judged.

But never fear, Republicans—those who made him their party’s candidate in the first place—are stepping up and withdrawing their support from Trump for his comments. This is all fine and dandy but it is too little too late, and they are more than likely trying to save their own political careers.

Here is Kentucky Senator, Republican Mitch McConnell’s reaction:

“As the father of three daughters, I strongly believe that Trump needs to apologize directly to women and girls everywhere and take full responsibility for the utter lack of respect for women shown in his comments on that tape.”

Arkansas Senator Republican John Boozman said,

“As a husband, father of three daughters, and grandfather of two precious little girls, if I ever heard anyone speak this way about them, they would be shopping for a new set of teeth.”

And let’s not forget Texas Senator, Republican John Cornyn’s tweet:

“I am disgusted by Mr Trump’s words about women: our daughters, sisters and mothers.”

Yes, the only reason Trump’s comments are shocking and offensive is because these men just happen to have relatives that are females. Here’s an idea: be offended as a human being, not because you have a sister, daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, aunt, cousin that is a woman or a step-sister-twice-removed-that-you-see-once-a-year-at- Chirstmas. Be offended because his comments are sexual assault.

Women are more than wives, daughters, mothers, etc. We are actual people. We are astronauts, professors, CEOs, coaches, doctors, inventors, reporters, managers, scientists and presidential candidates. We are not merely here for your pleasure.