To say this election has been difficult to stomach would be like saying labor and delivery doesn't hurt at all. I've had a hard time constantly covering it, specifically because the Republican nominee is constantly doing, saying, and bragging about hurtful, dangerous, and inexcusable things he's done or plans to do if elected. In an attempt to make it to Nov. 8, or to at least come to terms with Donald Trump's actions and words, the comparison between Trump and children (more specifically, toddlers) has been made numerous times. While I understand the sentiment, comparing Donald Trump to children isn't fair to children, or voters, or this country, or the countless women who've accused Trump of sexual assault, or the people he's hurt and harassed with his words, or any of the people Trump will, undoubtably, endanger if he's voted into the presidency of the United States.
Again, I can acknowledge why the comparison holds weight in so many people's minds. In fact, after watching the first presidential debate, I compared watching Trump debate to arguing with my 2-year-old son. When a grown man goes on Twitter tirades and calls people names and evokes the age-old argument of, "Well, he started it," I understand how hard it is to consider him an actual adult. However, that's exactly what he is. Donald Trump is a 70-year-old man who should know right from wrong. He is someone who should be held accountable for his actions, and not someone we should view as a child who "doesn't know better" or who is "still learning" or who lacks the number of years on this earth needed to familiarize themselves with the rules of common social and human decency.
In other words, if we wouldn't excuse Trump standing on a debate stage and having a bowel movement rather randomly (something my son did just this evening, only the "debate stage" was my living room floor), then we shouldn't excuse anything else he has done or said because he "doesn't know better." In fact, here are just a few reasons why comparing Trump to a child needs to end — and not just because that comparison is completely unfair to children.