On November 8, 2016 the United States will hold its 58th quadrennial presidential election. There are three Democrats and four Republicans still in the presidential race, one of whom is Donald Trump.
Any one of the candidates taking part in the presidential campaign may become the next President of the U.S. These people act as representatives of not only their respective political parties, but of the American populous as a whole. Their messages are broadcast across the globe. Thus, it is of great import that these candidates conduct themselves respectably and ethically. Historically, American leaders have often been held accountable for their unethical behaviors. However, in life (and …show more content…
following the San Bernardino mass shooting by ISIS-affiliated Muslim extremists in December of 2015.
Is religious discrimination an ethical issue here?
A candidate should be civil and ethically competent, and each message communicated to the public should be carefully prepared. Any words should be delicate to different ideologies, views, or values of the people (Robert & Denton, 2000, p. 9). While ISIS is a real problem for the whole world, should an entire religion be punished for the terroristic actions of a select few followers? The executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Nihad Awad, thinks that Trump’s “inflammatory rhetoric has crossed the line from spreading hatred to inciting violence” (Rappeport, 2016, para. 4).
By marginalizing a minority of future and current American citizens, Trump capitalizes on the fears of many within the American electorate.
While his position may have political merit, Trump’s statements on Muslim immigrants violate several ethical …show more content…
In order for a campaign to be ethical, candidates should be responsible for employees that represent on their personal interest. There are two kinds of campaigns- campaign communications and campaign finance. According to campaign finance, money should be spent with integrity (Nadler & Schulman, 2015, para. 9).
Discrimination of any sort is an ethical problem. People should be rewarded on merit rather than personal attributes such as religion or gender. Such discrimination is a serious form of injustice that should not be rampant in a U.S. candidate’s presidential campaign.
Gender-based discrimination can lead to a sense of insecurity, lost productivity, and loss of self-worth. There was no reason to set different salaries for the same campaign job (Cooper, 2001, p. 565)
It is important not only to pretend to be a good candidate for a presidential position, but to be a good candidate. Gender discrimination is not only unethical, but helps to associate Donald Trump with disrespect to women, which could alienate him to female and male voters alike. He should set payment at the same levels for all workers depending on their job position without any attachments to their gender. Donald Trump should make a public apology and avoid such mistakes in the