What Donald Trump Said in Debates and What He’s Doing Now

Kacee Baker, Staff Writer

I’ve recently been working on an analysis of the second presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Each time I re-watch the debate, I’m struck by the ways in which many of his actions during his first 100 days as president have contradicted the promises he made to voters during the debate.

In the debate, Trump pledged to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act.

This was one of Trump’s biggest promises during his campaign. During the debate, when asked about how he would reform healthcare, Trump said “[that’s] maybe the question I get almost more than anything else.” However, Trump hasn’t succeeded in repealing the ACA, and his new healthcare plan, which also hasn’t been instituted, has been widely critiqued.

Trump “disagree[d]” with Mike Pence’s statement that “the United States of America should be prepared to use military force to strike the military targets of the Assad regime.”

However, in possibly the most notable action he took in his first 100 days as president, Trump bombed a Syrian airbase. The bombing was a response to new information: a chemical weapons attack on Syrian civilians.

While the strike was one of his more popular moments, Trump’s changing views on Syria and his failure to replace the Affordable Care Act are demonstrative of a larger problem: Trump does not have the knowledge or experience to be president. He failed to carry out many aspects of his 100 day plan because he was unprepared. He even recently said of the presidency: “I thought it would be easier.”

Trump said: “nobody has more respect for women than I do.”

However, in his first 100 days, Donald Trump has done nothing to help women, and many of his actions have reduced women’s access to healthcare and targeted their reproductive rights. Neil Gorsuch, Trump’s Supreme Court Justice nominee, supports overturning Roe v. Wade and defunding Planned Parenthood. Trump also signed an order that would eliminate U.S. funding to foreign organizations that perform or even discuss abortions, effectively taking money from women’s healthcare organizations worldwide.

Trump claimed: “as soon as my routine audit is finished, I’ll release my [tax] returns.”

On April 15th, people across the country participated in Tax Marches, urging Trump, once again, to release his tax returns. Trump failed to do so, and responded to the protests with tweets saying that the marches were staged.

In addition to his failure to uphold many of his promises to his supporters, Trump’s failure to release his tax returns, his anti-women legislation, and Supreme Court nominee demonstrate his lack of respect for many of the U.S. citizens who don’t support him. In his first 100 days, Trump has done little to comfort the millions of people who did not vote for him, and who participated in the Women’s and Tax Marches.

While many Trump supporters claim that they will stand by him no matter what, Trump’s approval rating has been worsening, and will likely continue to decrease if he doesn’t begin fulfilling more of his campaign promises.