A Letter to Trump Voters

My dear fellow Americans,
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By the time this mid-October blog is published, the United States will have a new or renewed President. So what I write here will have no bearing on the outcome of the November 5th Election. Still, I felt it important to share my thoughts with those of you who’ve voted for President Trump...

First, I can think of a number of reasons why you might have done so:

• You’re a second-generation factory worker whose company moved to Mexico in the wake of the NAFTA act, passed by the Democratic Clinton Administration, and haven’t found decent employment since you lost your job.
• You’ve been a victim of Federal Government mismanagement and bureaucracy and want a decisive businessman to clean things up.
• You’re still grateful for Operation Warp Speed which got two Covid vaccines to market in record time thanks to President Trump’s leadership.
• You believe that we should use our Federal income to take care of American citizens first before spending it on other countries or undocumented aliens inside our country.
• When you were out of work during Covid, you really appreciated President Trump’s generous $1400 stimulus checks.
• Your spouse is a strong Trump supporter, and he or she has persuaded you to be one too.
• You’re a New Yorker who’s glad Pres. Trump when he talks sounds and acts like you.
• Your family has always voted Republican, and you don’t intend to break the tradition.
• You’ve had a hard life but were always told to suck it up. So you appreciate a President who by his example gives you permission to lay blame for your troubles elsewhere. And
• As a Bible-believing (or Koran-following) individual, you feel strongly that a man is better suited than a woman to the job of Commander-in-Chief.

There are doubtless more reasons that you can think of.
But now, here are some questions I asked myself:

• Why, per CNN as of October 3, 2023, have 24 of President Trump’s Cabinet members and closest aides turned against him, beginning with Mike Pence, his VP? There may be more now.
• Why have the two Republican members of the House Select Committee exploring the January 6th Capitol break-in, Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, both come out for Harris?
• How can I account for the fact that, according to Mark Leibovich in the October 2024 Atlantic (pp. 40-41), the following major Republic leaders had highly critical things to say about Donald Trump as early as 2015 and as late as 2021: Lindsey Graham, Tim Scott, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Kevin McCarthy, Vivek Ramaswamy, Elise Stefanik, Tom Cotton, Mike Johnson, and even J.D. Vance, who said, “Mr. Trump is unfit for our highest office”; “[he’s] a moral disaster”; and [he’s] “America’s Hitler.” And
• How can I vote for a convicted felon, a convicted sexual abuser, a participant in dozens of lawsuits, and a friend of dictators who appears to want to follow in their footsteps?

My answers caused me to vote for Harris.        Ren

With thanks to the Library of Congress and Getty Images.