Distinguished professor Richard Vedder supports Trump at College Republicans

Richard Vedder spoke at the College Republicans meeting on Wednesday to convince students to vote for Donald Trump in the presidential election.Vedder, a distinguished professor emeritus of economics, outlined what he thinks are the main reasons that Republicans need to defeat Hillary Clinton. Though Vedder admits that Trump has made mistakes on the campaign trail, he said these instances are nothing but “venial sins.”“He’s made some mistakes, but everything has to be compared with Hillary,” Vedder said. Clinton’s integrity and honesty, economic plans, foreign policy and possible Supreme Court appointments are all reasons that she should not be elected, according to Vedder.“Sleaze has been part of the Clinton environment for a quarter of a century at least,” Vedder said, pointing to Clinton’s email scandal as a main reason she cannot be trusted, in addition to various controversies from the past, such as Benghazi and Whitewater. In regard to Clinton’s economic policies, Vedder found issue with her plan to continue the work President Obama has started during his tenure. He criticized the limited GDP growth under Obama, saying it is the worst in history. He also noted that the poverty rate now is actually higher than before Obama came into office, despite his (Obama’s) focus on inequality.“The biggest enemy of the poor are the progressive liberals of this country who have advocated policies that seemingly are pro-poor, pro-low-income, but they hurt those people the most,” Vedder said. “The people who provide jobs in America are people who are successful.Vedder continued by saying Clinton wants “more of the same” and will continue to raise taxes, increase government spending and crowd out the private sector. He stressed the importance of balancing government budgets“I’ll admit, Donald Trump hasn't said much about addressing that problem, “ Vedder said. “But Hillary's solutions are clearly going to worsen it – that is not the case with Trump’s. Trump wants to cut taxes, he wants to reduce government regulation.”Vedder criticized Clinton’s foreign policy track record, including her time as Secretary of State and the current administration’s actions, which she has not opposed. He said that terrorism has only expanded since Obama came into office. “ISIS did not even exist prior to Obama,” Vedder said. “Obama nor Hillary can ever utter the words radical Islamic terrorist..you’re not allowed to say it because you might hurt someone’s self-esteem.”Vedder said since the next president will likely choose several Supreme Court justices, it is important that Trump secure the Oval Office. While Trump has already named several possible candidates that Vedders says believe in the constitution, Vedder said Clinton will appoint “leftist justices.”He ended his presentation by encouraging students to support not only Trump, but also other local Republican candidates in the upcoming election, such as Jay Edwards, whose upcoming campaign opportunities were discussed by the group. “We need to unify this country,” said David Parkhill, president of OUCR. “We want to make America number one again. We need to make people realize that we are not racist, we are not bigots.”OUCR meets weekly on Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. in Copeland 104.