Those on the right worshipped him like a God and those on the left saw him as Satan’s spawn. And I? Well, I really didn’t care to be honest.

I’ve suffered through far too many fake people to want to even entertain the idea that Donald J Trump was shocking. In fact, that’s purely why he became a media sensation. Because he said crazy things while the media siphoned his words to get ratings.

But even after overlooking his clever mouth, I still don’t think he was groundbreaking. Of course, that’s not to say he was the worst president of the United States. He did some really good things. He established a Space Force, which is quite important considering Russia and China already had their own space forces. He tackled tax reform to help boost the US economy – at what cost, though, is yet to be seen. He also passed a bill on incarceration reform, to help lower the overflow of inmates in federal prison. And yes, he killed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, thus punching the final nail in the ISIS caliphate coffin. Of course, he cannot claim to be the sole reason for the fall of the Islamic State caliphate, since much of the work was done by his predecessor, Barack Obama.

Despite his great accomplishments, though, Donald J Trump was a terrible leader. Particularly in his lack of diplomacy and smorgasbord of lies. His fakeness was so clear-cut that I literally rolled my eyes every time he popped up on my news feed. Instead of being a realistic human being, he would paint himself with golden words that many of his followers bought – hook, line and sinker.

Remember when those white supremacists took to the streets of Charlottesville and sparked a violent rally that killed counter-protester Heather Heyer? Remember when Trump responded by saying there were “very fine people on both sides”? Of course, the media did overlook all the times he condemned the violence, including condemning the driver who plowed through the mob of counter-protesters, but that doesn’t alleviate his words. He should have irrevocably condemned racism, especially white supremacy, and any form of violence. Yes, this does include the alt-left who took part in the violence. The worst part of all was the fact it took him 48 hours to respond to this horrific rally.

And then there were all the times he failed to act like a president on the world stage. He repeatedly insulted key US allies and cozied up to dictators. I’m not completely savvy in business ventures, but I do know that key allies should be respected and kept close. You never know when your gonna need them. The worst part was pulling out of international agreements like the Paris climate accord. Say what you want about global warming, but these talks were more than just about that. They were opportunities to swoon and impress your allies, and he simply pulled out because he didn’t like the way he was being treated.

At this stage, former President Trump is looking like most other leaders. He has won some things and he has failed at others. Although, he clearly refuses to name any of his failures, which makes him more of a failure. But what really devalues his presidency – besides race riots, separating families at the border, two impeachments and his severely unfinished border wall – is his truly abysmal response to COVID-19. A month before he officially left office, more Americans had died of COVID-19 than US troops who were killed on the battlefronts of WWII. That’s well over 400,000 deaths. Not to mention that over 24 million people had contracted the virus since its inception, which has swelled to over 32 million people now.

This abysmal data could only have come from a leader who repeated downplayed the insidiousness of the virus. Masks were optional, international flights were still allowed and lockdowns were unnecessary. Not to mention the sheer stupidity of his words when he made a suggestion about injecting bleach. Regardless of whether that was a joke or not, it’s not a suggestion that any president should make. And because of this supposed joke, more Americans were hospitalised due to poisoning from bleach and other cleaning products following his idiotic statement. That’s an increase of 92% according to the American Association of Poison Control Center.

But the most absurd was yet to come when Donald J Trump contracted COVID-19 himself. The most protected man on the planet contracted a virus because his guards were complacent about the whole pandemic. If that doesn’t spell national security crisis, I don’t know what would.

But I digress. This post is about whether Trump was truly groundbreaking. And I can honestly say that he was not. He wasn’t an exceptionally great president, and he certainly was no Hitler like some people suggest – he was just another anomaly in a line of anomalies.

If only the media stopped fawning over him like ducks over broken bread, many of us would be a lot happier. We wouldn’t have to see his cringeworthy expressions debasing social media. If only everyone on both sides saw him for what he really is – not a groundbreaking president, and not another Hitler, but just a clever mouth who knew how to lead on the media.

So to all his supporters, please refrain from being sheep. Trump wasn’t there for you, he was there for himself. And to all his haters, there are more important things to get angry over.

Feature image: History in HD on Unsplash