By now, millions of Americans across the nation are voting in what many have claimed is its most consequential presidential election of a generation, perhaps in its history, it’s worth looking back four years ago to March 2020. 

The Coronavirus pandemic was just establishing a foothold. People across the globe were searching for answers, trying to get a handle on the magnitude of the health crisis, and looking for whatever assurances they could find. 

One leader gave them all they were looking for. In a televised address, he effectively assured citizens that fear itself was the only thing they had to fear. “It’s just a little flu or the sniffles,” he said, steadily pointing the finger at the press for inciting panic and stoking hysteria around COVID-19. In the process, he severely misled his nation and stood virtually isolated on the world stage.

By now, you’re probably recollecting how poorly and egregiously Donald Trump let down the American people who counted on him to level with and protect them as best he could. But here, the dishonest dealer was Jair Bolsonaro, president of Brazil.

Bolsonaro, referred to by some as “Little Trump” and by others as “The Trump of the Tropics,” was a populist president formed in the image of his northern hemisphere role model. Equally bombastic and detached from reality, he prioritized outrageous behavior and statements.

“As citizens here, we spent like four years where every week we’re going to hear something obnoxious from the president that is not related to the country in a specific way,” said George Maravilha, a resident of Florianópolis, Brazil. “He’s not talking about having more jobs for people or getting the economy. He was talking about some guy that he didn’t like, some commentary on his wife, things like that.”

George is my friend, and we discussed politics back in July, about a week after Kamala Harris announced her candidacy for president. We examined the United States’ political moment – the opportunity to rid itself of Trump. We compared our countries and how after just one term of Bolsonaro, Brazilians voted him out of office in favor of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

For Brazilians, Lula represented a swing to the left, but also a return to a sort of normal that existed before Bolsonaro became president. An avowed climate change denier, the former president denied the impact of fires in the Amazon. Then President Trump praised Bolsonaro for, “working very hard on the Amazon fires and in all respects doing a great job for the people of Brazil.”

George, however, remembers Bolsonaro for his outsized personality and shocking statements both as the country’s leader and in his previous political life. Bolsonaro’s racist, sexist and homophobic statements are legendary and cringe-worthy. Once, he said that to have a gay child was “equal to death.” When a female lawmaker called him a rapist, he said that he would not rape her because she did not “deserve to be raped.”

“That is not the thing you want to hear from the president,” George told me. He sees that as beneath the high office of the president but also as an embarrassing representation of Brazil before the global community.

George believes that a president is more than just a leader – they represent how the world sees a country and understands its people. “Like a 50% plus one [vote] aligns a certain way of thinking. That’s how you’re going to understand the country or the people in that country.” 

As the United States stands on the precipice of this most consequential election, George’s words serve as a piercing reminder of the global implications of America’s domestic choices.

On this day when America chooses who will lead our nation for the next four years, the world is watching intently. This election is not just about us – it’s a global statement of our values and a proclamation of who we are as a people. 

George has been closely following the American election cycle, and he desperately wants the country to make a choice that not only can Americans be proud of, but one the world can respect as well. It’s the choice of Americans, but one for the world.

By Bryan Jenkins

Lights and T.V. are off, but here in the dark, looking at the ceiling, I can’t sleep… reflecting on the ongoing New York Trump Trial and the prospect of him returning to the white house. Ok… let’s just breathe… and take a lesson… from a humble item that every financial lender in the world uses to decide whether you’re trustworthy… your credit report. They’ll all tell you: Your history is the best predicter of how much they should trust you in the future. Donald Trump wants your trust for the future.  

His presidential “credit history”?… lies about covid-19, denying the science, delaying prevention, costing millions of American lives. During racially motivated murder and unrest, Trump calls White supremacists “fine people”… defends what he calls the proud history of Confederate monuments… and in a losing court case, hurls racist insults at the federal judge who happens to be Mexican-American. In further credit entries … Trump trashes patriots who fought and died for this country because, well,  they were from immigrant families… and he greets those coming here seeking freedom by separating them from their children and putting the kids in cages.   

That’s all AFTER his early presidential credit history… laced with scandals and lawsuits over his fake university ripping off students, small businesses stiffed on payments for their work, bankruptcies leaving employees and communities holding the bag. The bigger credit dings? impeachment… twice… for abuse of power and obstruction of congress, AND incitement of insurrection.  

Then, there’s the Mueller report alleging obstruction of justice involving Russian election interference… and the matter of those pardons Trump issued, absolving crooked friends convicted of federal crimes.  

 So, as an American voter – part of the collective “lender”, to play out the analogy – what does that presidential credit history illustrate? Consider, also, future entries could include criminal indictments for election interference, illegal fundraising, violations of the Espionage Act, fraud and tax evasion… and it’s easy to expect Trump’s “application” for the presidency would and should be “denied”.    

In short, Donald Trump’s history suggests, in presidential terms – He’s got bad credit! –  what lenders might call “below 400”. In their world, no lender would approve him. But the fact that so many Americans seem so willing to turn a blind eye to Trump’s presidential credit report and vote “approval”… is why… I can’t sleep. Can you? 

Bryan Jenkins is a 35-year veteran of broadcast journalism… honored for work ‘on the set’ and ‘in the field’, with two Los Angeles Emmy Awards, a Golden Mike Award and The N.A.B.J.’s National Award of Excellence. Bryan is a captivating storyteller and communicator, having worked as Anchor, Reporter, and Producer in major markets across the country, and contributed to successful media campaigns for local politicians and non-profit organizations. He now resides in southern California, sharing his expertise as a writer and media consultant.