By Brandon Sapienza, Staff Writer
Of all the recent allegations and scandals that have rocked the White House since January of last year, the newest one seems to be the least significant, yet puts into question the morality of our president.
A few weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal came out with a report that President Donald Trump had an affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2006.
Given the past incidents with Trump and women, it should not be all that surprising that Trump was engaged in an affair. If it wasn’t exposed already with the Access Hollywood tape, it is quite evident now that the United States is run by a man with no morals. Not only is it despicable for a man to have an extramarital affair but it also happened shortly before Trump’s son, Barron, was born.
While it is an outrage that Trump engaged in all of these behaviors outside of his marriage, this scandal means nothing in comparison to what the real consequences are. To keep Daniels (who’s real name is Stephanie Clifford) quiet, Michael Cohen, Trump’s attorney, paid her $130,000 while also allegedly physically threatening her. This sparked outrage by proponents of non-violence.
Along with this, there is a growing number of people who are questioning where that money stemmed from. That has prompted one watchdog group to file a complaint to the Federal Election Commission regarding this incident alleging that the money used to pay off Clifford came directly from the Trump campaign.
There isn’t much to be said except that this is a giant mess. It is times like these when Americans have to wonder what global powers think of what they are seeing unfold in Washington. In just 14 months, Trump has gone through multiple cabinet members, press secretaries, staff members and has had many members of Congress turn their backs on him. On the world’s stage, the president and his administration are falling apart while still being held accountable for make crucial decisions that will have a significant effect on the world at large.
To move past the Stormy Daniels incident and the one that is unfolding now- involving a Playboy model, who is also coming clean with her relationship with Trump and his attempt to keep her quiet- Trump needs to for once suck it up and come clean about these accusations. If the stories of these two women begin to blow up in the media, it will be hard to rebound from, given the entire Russia investigation, as well. Trump has bigger items on his agenda to deal with, and moving on from one scandal may help him focus on other important matters at hand.
Brandon Sapienza is a staff writer for The Bona Venture.
His email is sapienbm17@bonaventure.
Photo courtesy of thedailybeast.com
