Four years ago, we were able to see our family and friends for the holidays without having to worry about infecting them with a dangerous virus. Four years ago, American small business owners did not need to confront the grim reality of possibly having to shut down because of state regulations enacted to keep Americans safe. Four years ago, parents did not need to be anxious about whether or not to send their children to school due to health concerns. Four years ago, life in America felt normal. Four years later, under the Trump administration, Americans are now starving for a sense of normalcy.

Since announcing his candidacy for president on June 16, 2015, Donald Trump’s approach to politics was to skim-read the rulebook and ultimately tear it up to prove just how unconventional of a leader he could be. This method was reflected throughout the entirety of his presidency, as his desire to be unconventional has left indelible scars on the face of the nation. In 2020, that desire has left us in some of the most unconventional and nonideal circumstances we could ever find ourselves in. 

There is no disputing the sheer magnitude of change President Trump has bestowed upon our nation. Examples of his change make the news on a daily basis: directly going against the American moniker of “the land of the free” by separating migrant children from their families at the border, thrusting an already indebted American economy into unwinnable trade wars with China and even openly inviting foreign interference in elections, our most sacred and coveted American duty of democracy. President Trump has had a tremendous impact on our nation, and “great” is just the tip of the red Make America Great Again hat.

Throughout the course of four years, President Trump has hurt Americans more than helped them, and 2020 is exemplary of that in a pandemic where Americans need more help than ever before. Trump’s handling of the pandemic should have shown America that when a crisis knocks on the door, America has a leader who is willing to meet the challenge head on. Rather, COVID-19 kicked down the door, and President Trump fled to Twitter to attack top health officials like Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx. To elaborate, President Trump once referred to Dr. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, as a “disaster,” and even went as far as to claim that people were tired of hearing about the pandemic from “idiots.” The president once even entertained the notion of firing Fauci if elected for a second term, as a packed crowd at one of his rallies cheered on in support. 

Additionally, even after being diagnosed with COVID-19, the president told the American people not to be afraid of the virus and not to let it dominate their lives. Such dangerous signaling not only projects general indifference for the safety of the people he is governing, but also relays a message to Americans that the virus is not as dangerous as advertised. In reality, the statistics in deaths and cases far exceed what is advertised as cold symptoms. On Friday, Nov. 13, the president even touted the idea of withholding the critical COVID-19 vaccine from New York. However, the list of the president’s transgressions onto America do not even start or end here.

Anyone who believes that a Joe Biden presidency could erase the legacy of Trump is thinking more unrealistically than the president himself. President Trump’s time in the Oval Office has spewed figurative gasoline on the long-burning fires of race relations and served as a breeding ground for outlandish conspiracy theories like those of QAnon, which creates more unnecessary, unsettling distrust in American government. He has even dangled millions of lives by a string with his prodigious pursuit of ending the Affordable Care Act during a pandemic. Despite this, Trump has proven this election season that approximately 72 million Americans are still heavily influenced by him, and as a result, Trump will continue to haunt America’s political atmosphere. President Trump will absolutely never be forgotten. He may never even be gone from the political stage, as reports have surfaced that he may be pining for another run for office in 2024, which is indeed constitutional under the 22nd Amendment. However, the president’s children, too, are eligible to run for office in 2024, and they may try to cement Trumpism as the new Republicanism.

President Trump has unequivocally, dangerously held America back instead of bringing it forward, and the U.S. coronavirus statistics are testament to this. Currently, we lead the world with the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19, falling far behind the threshold required to contain the virus.

Four years of Trump have indeed marked an American comeback story unlike anything we have ever seen; it marked a comeback of economic failure, death and explosive racial tensions in a nation still learning what it means to stand united. We do not know where the next four years will take our nation. However, in a sea of uncertainty, one thing is certain: We need a real comeback story.

Noah Osborne, FCRH ’23, is a journalism major from Harlem, N.Y.