Let’s take this from a perspective something Donald claims to be the most knowledgable about, the economy. Back in 2011, the Republican led congress fought the increase of the national debt ceiling. This fight ultimately faltered, but the delays over it caused S&P to downgrade the credit rating of the United States. Knowing that these delays cause a negative impact to our economy should have been enough for the Republicans to not let something like this happen again, but in 2013 they led another fight to not raise the debt ceiling. This time it started well before the deadline, so at this point it’s only words so to say. Yet, another credit agency, Fitch Ratings, warned that more deadlock over the debt ceiling would force them to consider lowering the credit rating. Four days after this warning a global credit agency, Dagong Global lowered the United States credit rating. This was all due to words and threats, with no actual delay, or action, to the debt ceiling at this point. Donald, words matter.

You may think this may seem a little distant, what does a national credit rating ultimately mean for the average person? And I agree that my example here is a little contrived, so let’s take a different approach. To quote Michelle Obama’s moving speech at the DNC, “this election, and every election, is about who will have the power to shape our children for the next four or eight years of their lives”. I truly believe in this sentiment with politics, so what is something children can relate to. We are in the age of social media, and there’s no denying the existence of cyberbullying. Well what is cyberbullying? It’s words. Donald, it’s only words. So by this logic it shouldn’t matter. Should it matter to Bart Palosz, a 15-year-old from Connecticut who was harassed online by his peers? Should it matter to Bart Palosz’s family who has to deal everyday with their son committing suicide due to just words? Or should it matter to Viviana Aguirre and her family who suffered the same fate? Donald, words matter. (As an aside I would like to urge anyone that has spare money to contribute to wonderful anti-bullying charities such as Stomp Out Bullying or It Gets Better).

If it’s not clear enough actions aren’t the only thing we should judge people on. Now let’s look at what you’ve said. What kicked this all off is when you used your words to essentially say sexual assault is okay if you’re a celebrity. You’ve insinuated that Ivanka should switch companies if sexually harassed such as those suffering from Roger Ailes at Fox News. You’ve insulted the family of a man who died serving this country and protecting our democracy. You’ve insulted already suffering veterans to feel even weaker for dealing with suicide and mental health issues. You’ve parroted a lie that our magnificent President, Barack Obama wasn’t born in this country and have further created a division in our country. You say you want to increase libel and slander laws to protect your image, but words don’t matter? And tonight. You were asked about Islamphobia in this country, and instead of discussing how to combat it you decided to use Islamphobia with your favorite phrase “radical Islamic terrorism”.  You lied about your position on the Iraq war. You openly disagreed with the one man in the country you should be unified with, your running mate Mike Pence. But worst of all, you said you would hire a special prosecutor to jail your opponent Hillary Clinton. This is the thing of tyrants. The kind of people who we learn about in history so we don’t repeat those mistakes. Donald, words matter.

Donald, when you present us with no record of success (tax returns please), no concrete policy that will tell us how you will improve our country, no actions showing you could be fit to be Commander in Chief, the only thing we have to judge you on is your words. Donald, words matter, so take responsibility for what you say.