Supporters Of Trump Speak Up
By
Leonard Zwelling
On January 18, 2018, The New York Times printed a series of letters from readers who voted for Donald Trump AND who still support him. There is great heuristic value in reading these letters and I have attached a link above.
The reasons they voted for Trump varied. There were indeed the Democrats who just could not vote for Hillary Clinton among the authors and those who wanted change from politics as usual. But their reasons for sticking with Trump are remarkably consistent.
First, the appointment of conservative justices to the federal bench.
Second, the defeat of ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
Third, the tax bill and the beginning of the dismantling of ObamaCare.
Fourth, a more rational immigration policy.
Fifth, the booming economy and low unemployment.
Sixth, the pressure he is putting on Iran and Korea.
Seventh, extracting us from foreign entanglements that the letter writers felt were not good for the US.
Eighth, Mr. Trump’s declaration that the US embassy will move to the capital of Israel, Jerusalem.
The writers acknowledge that the president ruffles feathers, talks bluntly and Tweets too much, but they forgive all of the behavior because they perceive his policies have been for the good of the country. The most telling thing I took away from the letters was that the authors were convinced that Mr. Trump had restored America to a better place in the world than had his predecessors and did a better job than they perceived Mrs. Clinton would have done.
What this really says to me is that many Americans perceive the government, particularly Congress, as dysfunctional, inept and unresponsive to the needs of the people. The media is no better. Mr. Trump is giving voice to these sentiments and in that he may be forgiven his trespasses of awful language, short attention span, and utter chaos in the White House. Chaos may be preferred by many to inaction and tone deafness. The leadership of Congress is sorely lacking (McConnell, Schumer, Ryan and Pelosi). Can you really blame people for siding with Trump? Yes, I know, many can, but these people make good points.
The United States has had a series of bad leaders before. Even in recent times we have had a president forced to resign, another on trial for lying about his sexual exploits, another got us into an unnecessary foreign war, another two lose in attempts for second terms because of poor management of the economy, and the last guy promised that if you liked your health care you could keep it when this was never true and he knew it. By the way, the last guy let the Russians affect the election while he did nothing. Unforgiveable.
Americans are not fickle. They are tired of having political humans as presidents. The leaders of the Free World are all flawed people who make mistakes. Donald Trump is just another of these, but the people writing in The Times view the pluses of the Trump Presidency outweighing the minuses. I don’t, but these letters are really worth a read so you can understand how those who support the president think and how their thinking may differ from yours.
Nothing could be more valuable. Especially if you disagree with these people. They are your friends and neighbors and your countrymen. Their opinions cannot be dismissed. They matter. Trump matters. This is not fake news.
