November 19, 2020
Dear Supporters of President Trump, my fellow Americans,
Sigh, this is a really hard letter to write but I hope you read it. I see, read and hear your pain upon learning that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the election. Many people have felt that shock, disbelief and worry before and others will feel it in the future. It’s hard to accept the truth and easy to suspect that shenanigans in the voting process spoiled your vision of what will happen in the next four years. Suspected shenanigans are not the same as facts and wishes don’t make things true. However, it is true that it takes time to mourn your loss. President Trump has had more than a week to sit shiva and so have you. You tear your clothes, cover the mirrors, be comforted by others and tell stories about your memories. You are free from your regular work and eat meals provided by the kind people around you by ordering in and supporting local restaurants. Then you return to your daily life. Trump has not had any public events for more than two weeks nor have there been any daily briefings or public communications other than his tweets. Neither he nor Pence have mentioned the explosion of positive tests for the virus, hospitalizations, deaths and pleas from medical workers for help. I understand your pain is being expressed with anger but please move on with life. It doesn’t mean that you stop crying or wailing about your loss, but it doesn’t mean you prevent the future from happening.
I understand that you supported President Trump for different reasons that I can respect even as I disagree. Some of you were thrilled with tax cuts and increases in the stock market even if about 90% of our population is not invested in the stock market nor had any significant benefit from the tax cuts. Some of you love this administration for policies on immigration while others are disgusted by these same policies. Some of you love that the American Embassy was moved to Jerusalem and that certain Arab states are signing treaties with Israel that benefit both parties. Some of you are passionate about the issue of abortion and it’s the main reason you supported the Republican ticket. Some of you love the name calling and undiplomatic language used by our president. It is your right to vote on your beliefs and it is fundamental to our democracy to choose the party and platform that best represents those beliefs.As I watched the scenes from the MAGA group in Washington last week, I thought, “these people are really grieving”. They were passionate and angry and totally convinced that their version of the truth was real. It’s not. They made accusations that voting systems “changed votes”, that “dead people voted”, that “illegal votes were cast” and there was a grand conspiracy across states that involved “a deep state”, “The Media” and “Facebook”. How sad and how absurd. I beg you to look at some news sources that include actual facts.
Do you remember Superman? I mean the tv show, not the comic books. Remember that he stood for “Truth, Justice and The American Way”? Please don’t hate your fellow Americans for voting for their candidates and their platforms. Truth can depend on many things, but facts are provable. Justice means that our laws apply equally to all of us and guilt needs to be proven. The American Way is democracy in action. We vote for our choices. We look out for our neighbors. We care for our environments. We educate our children, and we try to be civil and respectful of others. Please continue to work for your ideas but respect that others’ opinions also matter. That applies to “both sides” where there are “good people”.
Thank you for reading my letter and I look forward to hearing from you. Please, no threats and no swearing.
Dear Mr. President 