Donald Trump is running for President and is making a fool of himself and the country while doing it. Some of the comments he makes can’t help but make you laugh, like when he said he and his lawyers believe the fourteenth amendment is unconstitutional. Others, like comments he has made about Mexicans, immigrants, women and other countries make you wonder what this country has become. I don’t think telling a woman “you wouldn’t have your job if you weren’t beautiful” should be socially acceptable in our country and this behavior certainly shouldn’t be exhibited by a presidential candidate.

I don’t think this comment exhibits the worst of Donald Trump, but he is still polling at number one in many Republican polls. Are we going to wait until Donald Trump is nominated as the Republican candidate to evaluate his behavior? I believe we need to “dump Trump” as a reasonable Republican candidate and allow ourselves time to evaluate other, realistic options.

Ever since Trump announced his presidency, he has made himself known for cruel and racist comments that seem to be reinforced every time he opens his mouth. Although he “clarifies” and “justifies” his comments every time they become a big news story, no one can forget the most memorable part of his announcement to enter the race for president; in his announcement, he said Mexican immigrants are rapists and they bring drugs and crime into the US.

Of course there is a sliver of truth in Trump’s statement, but not in the way he meant. There will always be a few members of a population who decide to commit crimes, but this holds true for any population, including citizens born and raised in the US. This is shown through the findings of a study conducted by the Immigration Policy Center (IPC). It states that “for every ethnic group without exception, incarceration rates among young men are lowest for immigrants.” This means that the rates of US born young men being sent to prison are higher than the rates of any immigrant population in the US. This holds true, even for Mexicans, Guatemalans and men of other ethnicities with high illegal immigration rates.

Furthermore, the Public Policy Institute of California released a similar study which found that “the incarceration rate for foreign-born adults is 297 per 100,000 in the population, compared [with] 813 per 100,000 for U.S.-born adults.” This shows that the research released by the IPC holds true for larger populations, like that of adults.

Therefore, the generalization of all Mexican immigrants being criminals and drug transporters is racist and is not fact-based. Not even the last line of Trump’s statement, in which he assumes there are “some good people”, can fix the damage he caused. Trump should focus on the bigger issue, that of US born citizens committing crimes, rather that of immigrants committing crimes.

Trump has faced backlash, especially over this comment, ever since it was made. National Broadcasting Company (NBC), the network on which SNL airs, reported “cutting ties” with Trump. Many Latino organizations, especially those that fall under the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, a group of 40 latino organizations in the US, are outraged at this comment and comments like it. Business partners of Trump, such as Macy’s, who sold the Trump Menswear Collection, ESPN, who held golf tournaments at Trump golf clubs and the Federal Aviation Administration, who named some flight coordinates after Trump (UFIRD, DONLD and TRMMP) have dumped association with Trump. Trump’s popularity ratings among the general population at the outset of his run were exceedingly low, and have continued to stay low, largely due to these comments.

However, Trump’s ratings have since climbed in the Republican Party and he has been featured in talk shows, news shows and now SNL. Currently among Republican voters, Trump has a favorability rating of 26%, according to a FOX News poll taken at the beginning of November.

NBC said they would cut ties with Trump because “the respect and dignity for all people are cornerstones of our values.” I believe Trump’s remarks show the respect and dignity for all people are not the cornerstones of his values. If NBC cut all ties, then why was Trump on SNL when their values obviously don’t match?

Trump continually talks about how he brings good ratings. This is most likely true as the first two Republican debates have broken records in number of views. Many people want to see what Trump, who was formerly a reality TV star, will do next. Trump has developed an overblown personality which makes what he does a show, which in turn brings up ratings. Why else would NBC want to put him on SNL?

By putting Trump on SNL, NBC has undermined its “cutting of ties”. For me, it has shown that ratings are more important to NBC than curbing racism and respecting all people. It has shown that the race for president, an essential part of our democracy, has become a reality show, in so far as that the biggest personality wins the votes. How is this showing the world that America is a great country? It’s not.

Even though protests urging NBC to “dump Trump” as the SNL host Nov. 7th were unsuccessful, we as a nation have to remember how far we’ve come in combating racism. We have to remember that supporting a racist candidate like Trump in his presidential campaign cannot be tolerated in this country. Although NBC failed to do the right thing, we as a country should, and “dump Trump” as a candidate before he makes it to the White House.