Time for Americans to finally end the Trump show

Those who have ears to hear, let them hear. This is no time to be swayed by the entertainment factor or the buffoonery of Donald Trump’s antics and rhetoric. The Republican presidential candidate is dangerous, not only for the United States but the rest of the world.

He has made lies and falsehoods such a common practice in his campaign, that it is near impossible to locate the occasions when the truth has been told.

November 5 is Election Day in the United States of America. Thankfully, with some 161 million registered voters, the country permits early voting across several states. Already, nearly half of them have voted early and this should allow for a much faster result.

Whether the decision to vote early was in anticipation of some kind of violence or challenges on Election Day, one is unlikely to know until after the results are tallied.

What is for certain is that Trump will continue his unsubstantiated claims and lies that the election was stolen if he does not emerge the winner after Tuesday’s poll.

Most Americans perceive the 2024 presidential election as extremely consequential to the preservation of their rights and freedoms and they want to ensure their participation in the process.

The election has been dogged by conspiracies that have had serious implications for the safety of election workers, and the ability of ordinary citizens to cast their votes as a result of voter suppression efforts by Trump and his backers.

It is not coincidental that so many Republican figures have openly backed Democratic presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris.

While most of them admit they have never voted for a Democratic candidate, they concede that this year is different. 

The warnings from within Trump’s administration between 2016 and 2020 have been clear and unambiguous; that the former reality TV performer should not be returned to the White House.

His former Chief of Staff and retired four-star General John Kelly described Trump as a fascist who wants to become a dictator. Trump’s former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley described the former president as a “fascist to the core” and that he was doing “great and irreparable harm”.

For those not familiar with the term fascist, such a person is a far-right authoritarian who relishes one-party rule and believes in forcible suppression of any opposition and in a natural social hierarchy.

Mark Esper, Trump’s former Secretary of Defence, warned of Trump’s desire to use the military against American citizens. During Trump’s campaigning, he has admitted to such desires, His former national security advisor John Bolton described him as “unfit to be president”.

These represent just a sample of the positions of Trump’s closest advisors and Cabinet members, including his former vice president, who are not supporting him and have warned Americans to use this election to finally rid themselves of this dangerous man.

In fact, Trump is well aware that a presidential election loss will mean that he has no power to either dismiss the many federal crimes he is facing or pardon himself of the 34 criminal convictions for which he is awaiting sentencing and possible incarceration.

The 2024 presidential election is make or break for Trump so Americans should not be surprised by his threats of physical violence to his political opponents; his plan to deport millions of non-white immigrants; his intention to shut down cable networks that critique his behaviour, like MSNBC, and withdraw the broadcast licences of ABC, CBS, and CNN; and the implementation of his Project 2025.