Are Trump’s Positions Changing Already?

If there is one aspect of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign that I admire it would be the great fortitude and consistency with which he expressed his views. During the entirety of the race, Trump stayed confident in his views about issues facing America. His conservative voice resonated with many citizens across the nation. Trump’s harsh, right-wing views were the vehicle which he used to access and harness our country’s rage. Not only did he succeed in utilizing this anger to get him the RNC nomination, but he received enough support to get to the White House. With every vote that was cast in Donald Trump’s name, every vote that lifted him up to the presidency, a wager was placed. Each voter bet that Trump would not just successfully lead the country, but that he would stay true to his values. But the way the map is laid out, it is likely that opinions Trump expressed during the campaign are changing, such as those on the Affordable Care Act, same-sex marriage and even Hillary Clinton.From day one, Donald Trump has scrutinized every part of the Affordable Care Act aligning right with the Republican Party’s classic “repeal and replace” motto. In 2012 the GOP nominated Mitt Romney for the presidency. One of Romney’s biggest accomplishments was his implementation of RomneyCare, a healthcare system for the state of Massachusetts. Our president’s health care system, commonly referred to as Obamacare, is based on RomneyCare so much so that Romney has taken credit for the creation of Obamacare. This means that angry anti-Obamacare voters did not have a candidate that strongly opposed the program in the 2012 election. The same irritated individuals saw Donald Trump as a ray of hope, an adamant anti-Obamacare figure who would replace the system they hated. Trump has kept that persona alive, that is, until his interview on “60 Minutes” during which he said that he liked some key components of Obamacare such as the keeping of children on their parents’ insurance plans until the age of 26 and continued coverage for those with pre-existing conditions. This change in viewpoint on Obamacare is not a typical political flip-flop; it is a betrayal of his supporters.Another important aspect to the Trump campaign and this election was LGBT rights. More specifically, same-sex marriage. Although he has not been defiant about his position on gay marriage, Trump has stated numerous times over the past 16 years that he is in favor of traditional marriage. This highly conservative view is becoming more of a rarity in each election cycle. Trump’s stance against this caters to those who cannot put their faith in a candidate, Republican or Democrat, who is in favor of gay marriage. Then again, Donald Trump has recently betrayed the trust of his supporters by stating after he won the election that, “[Gay marriage] was settled in the Supreme Court. I mean it’s done. These cases have gone to the Supreme Court. They’ve been settled. And I’m fine with that.” This recent change in opinion only draws suspicion for more flip-flopping by Trump.The most vital part of the Trump campaign was the absolute hatred of Hillary Clinton. In the past he has called Hillary “crooked” and has repeatedly claimed he will hire a private investigator to look deeper into the email case and send her to jail. The level of rudeness and detestation Trump has showed toward Clinton not only helped him, but it hurt her. Voters across the country believed Trump’s rhetoric and grew to despise Hillary and everything she stands for. Yet in his acceptance speech he said, “Hillary has worked very long and very hard over a long period of time, and we owe her a major debt of gratitude for her service to our country.” Although the winning presidential candidate generally has to speak fondly of the loser, Trump has never been one to follow the rules. Never has he abided by social norms or basic manners. This is one of the only times throughout the whole election where Trump has been out of character, speaking fondly of Hillary.It has been only eight days since Donald Trump was elected President of the United States. In those days Trump has effectively flip-flopped on many of the values he spoke about during the campaign. From what we can observe, the Donald Trump that we saw for two years in the race was simply a mirage.