Instigator / Pro
24
1450
rating
10
debates
30.0%
won
Topic
#207

Donald Trump is turning America into a dictatorship

Status
Finished

The debate is finished. The distribution of the voting points and the winner are presented below.

Winner & statistics
Better arguments
9
6
Better sources
8
0
Better legibility
4
3
Better conduct
3
3

After 4 votes and with 12 points ahead, the winner is...

Cowscreen
Parameters
Publication date
Last updated date
Type
Standard
Number of rounds
5
Time for argument
Three days
Max argument characters
30,000
Voting period
One week
Point system
Multiple criterions
Voting system
Open
Contender / Con
12
1500
rating
16
debates
40.63%
won
Description

Actions made by the president over the past 2 years indicate that Trump's vision for America is that of a dictatorship.

Round 1
Pro
#1
Since Donald Trump was elected president, he has proceeded to attack many of the fundamental principles of this republic. One of those principles is the rule of law. A republic, unlike a dictatorship holds everyone accountable under the law, even the most powerful. Donald Trump has demonstrated disregard for this principle through his own comments; “I have an absolute right to do what I want to with the Justice Department.”
 
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/21/us/politics/trump-justice-department-independence.html
 
Trump and the Republicans have also worked tirelessly to implement elections that subvert the will of the people through unnecessary voter ID laws and gerrymandering, which are making elections increasingly meaningless.
 
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2018/07/12/american-democracys-built-in-bias-towards-rural-republicans
 
Trump has a complete disregard for the truth. With his constant lying and demonization of the media, he is undermining one of the fundamental elements of a republic: free press.
 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/09/13/president-trump-has-made-more-than-false-or-misleading-claims/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.078e6639a7d0
 
https://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2016/09/public-confidence-in-media-falls-to-all-time-low-in-2016-228168

Con
#2
1.  Trump sometimes doesn't know what even he says.  I am not sure of the context and details of the situation, but he did say “But for purposes of hopefully thinking I’m going to be treated fairly, I’ve stayed un-involved with this particular matter.”
Based on this, I'm sure he doesn't want the justice department to worship his orders.  He does have some executive and Constitutional authority, though.

2.  No where in this article is Trump directly mentioned or involved.  This seems to revolve around propaganda that Republicans gerrymander, although that both parties do it.  It also mentioned the popular vote and electoral college a lot, but that is simply how our country has always done it.  It is not trump's fault.

3.  Your first source is extremely biased.  It says Trump's 5000th false claim was a tweet saying "Russian ‘collusion’ was just an excuse by the Democrats for having lost the Election!”
This tweet is solely his opinion, and of course the left will make it seem like it is a lye.  This all depends on political perception and bias.  The same thing could be said about Obama.

4.  "he is undermining one of the fundamental elements of a republic: free press."

FAKE NEWS!  Of course he is not stopping CNN from reporting or being nationally televised, but he is calling out the fake news media.  No other president has fought back to bad things they say about them, and Trump is changing that by exposing them and making sure lies aren't spread.  The confidence is obviously lower because he is exposing the fake news media.  He is not denying freedom of the press.  Do you even know what qualifies undermining freedom of the press?  All of these things are completely false left wing agenda's, and it is becoming a disgrace.

Back to you.
Round 2
Pro
#3
1. The fact that Trump is stupid and doesn't know what he is saying is no excuse for his behavior. Ask yourself, why is Trump even questioning the impartiality of the Justice Department? That part of the quote alone is damaging to our countries confidence in the rule of law. Before unjustly firing James Comey, Trump is on record requesting that Comey pledge loyalty to himself rather than the constitution, do you consider this behavior benign? If he doesn't want the Justice Department to worship his orders, why is he at war with Attorney General Jeff Sessions? To top things off, he also threatens to jail his political opponents, does that mean anything to you?
 
2. You are correct that Trump is not individually responsible for voter suppression and gerrymandering, but it's important to acknowledge that he is its most powerful purveyor. As the most popular representative of the Republican party, his demonization of minorities has only served to embolden these undemocratic practices.
 
3. I don't believe the media is peddling fake news, and I'm sure your response to that is to dredge up some stories that CNN mistakenly ran. Mistakes are going to happen, and when CNN makes them they apologize, which is good. If your news source never makes mistakes or apologizes it's likely you watching state-run propaganda. Trump response to the press has never been a measured critique of specific errors, instead we get a wholesale demonization of the news media, which has lowered our countries confidence in the press.

Con
#4
Forfeited
Round 3
Pro
#5
Forfeited
Con
#6
1. Jeff Sessions is a weak attorney general. He wants him fired. Nothing dictator like there. Also, your thing about Comey is purely an opinion. He did want Hillary jailed, he has not talked about it recently because the chances she will get jailed is slim, and that's because she broke the law and deleted over 30,000 emails. Does that mean anything to you?
2. Our country is not a democracy. It is a Constitutional Republic. Gerrymandering has always gone on before Trump was elected, so Trump is not responsible for gerrymandering. This is simply an opinion.
3. CNN is fake news. The most obvious thing about CNN is that they report to be objective reporters, when in fact they have a clear democratic bias. They also make certain things seem bad with language or tone, but don't report the other side, like on illegal immigration, gun control, etc.

Round 4
Pro
#7
1. Hillary Clinton never broke the law. Like a dictator Trump has completely remade the federal judiciary by replacing judges throughout the country with Republicans. These actions have reshaped the courts in Trumps favor, removing a check on his power. For the Supreme Court, Republicans pushed through a nominee, disregarding the filibuster to steal the seat of Antonin Scalia.
 
2. Republicans continue to implement voter ID laws which prevent some people from voting, these are the actions of a dictator.
 
3. CNN is a neutral news source, there is no reason to think that the media has a liberal bias. It's just a fact that Trump does and says bad things so when the media reports it is often negative.

Con
#8
1.  Really?  Hillary never broke the law?  Why do you think that?  Trump has appointed conservative Supreme Court justices that follow the Constitution.  Liberals don't follow the constitution.

2.  Source please?  Both sides do this, it has gone on before Trump.  On this premise, I guess Obama is a dictator as well.

3. LOL are you kidding me??  You actually think they have no bias.  This is absurd.
"It's just a fact that Trump does and says bad things so when the media reports it is often negative. "
You are proving my point.  This is completely an opinion on what stuff Trump has done, good or bad.  The thing about the left is they have come to believe there opinion is a fact, when the right admits they have an opinion.  There is no way CNN is a central news source. https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/cnn/
Round 5
Pro
#9
1. Hillary Clinton was never indicted by the FBI and was cleared of any wrongdoing. It's not just who the Republicans and Trump appointed to the courts but how they did it. The tactics used to deny Obama's appointment were undemocratic.
 
2. Source: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/georgia-election-fight-shows-that-black-voter-suppression-a-southern-tradition-still-flourishes
 
3. What bias does that mediabiasfactcheck.com have? My point is the media as a whole is not biased against Trump. Fox News is even more popular than CNN and it is completely pro Trump.  

Con
#10
1. Hillary has not been investigated, but she still broke the law.  Also, Trump hasn't talked about this recently, only his supporters chant it.  The tactics used to deny Obama's appointment was the rule that his own vice president made.  It is called the Biden rule.

2. Both sides do it.  It's gone on before.  You did not rebuttal to this.

3.  Mediabiasfactcheck has a slight left-wing bias, but they are pretty neutral.  The FAKE NEWS press is the enemy of the people.  Not as a whole.  CNN is bias and are anti-Trump.