Editor’s Note: This article does not representthe views of the ‘Prince’.
When I stepped into an Uber this summer in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the first question the driver asked me was, “Donald o Hillary?”
Foreign curiosity about our election is not unique to the Argentine people. Petula Dvorak claims in The Washington Post that being abroad has been tainted for Americans — and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is to blame.
Vacationing overseas, she claims, has become a “relentless apology tour” for Americans as they “Trumpsplain” that his views are not characteristic of the United States.
The difference between Dvorak and me is that I never felt obligated or even inclined to apologize to my Argentine companions for Trump’s candidacy. I never felt ashamed of my country or its presidential candidates. (I should note that disappointed and ashamed are very different feelings.)
You can disagree with your countrymen’s politics without dismissing your country as disgraceful — I could engage in meaningful political discussion with Argentinians without seeking forgiveness for Trump. Or for Hillary, for that matter.
An apology to a foreigner will not stop Trump’s campaign. It will not change his views, and it will not ensure he isn’t elected. An apology cannot prevent him from promoting exclusionary policies, and an apology cannot make him go away. An apology will not ease the burden of Trump.
Our apologies are selfish, really. We apologize abroad to ensure that those we encounter do not lump us in with Trump supporters — do not mistakenly assume we share his values. We apologize to make ourselves feel better, not to make foreigners feel better.
An apology signifies that one has done something wrong, has harmed another. An apology on behalf of the United States signifies that we as a nation have done something wrong.
We have done nothing wrong.
Trump has done and said wrongful things, but Trump is not America. Hillary has done and said wrongful things, but she is not America, either.
Let us not forget that Donald Trump is a candidate. He is running for office. He is not our president. He is not America. When you apologize for him on behalf of the United States, you allow him to represent America.
Donald Trump is the product of a democratic society in which all citizens have an equal ability to exercise political freedom and to participate in the political process. Rather than shame our country abroad for the candidate one party has produced, we should celebrate the fact that, while there are nations where women cannot speak without a man’s permission and only the very wealthy can influence their nation’s politics, in the United States we are able to “apologize” for Trump not with our mouths but with our vote.
Jacquelyn Thorbjornson is a sophomore from South Thomaston, Maine. She can be reached at jot@princeton.edu.Read More
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