A Letter to Trump Supporters

     I remember the day after Trump’s election in November of 2016. I was shell shocked. It seemed impossible, like this was a cruel joke the rest of the country was playing on us. I was hiking with my boyfriend that day, trudging silently up the hill, both lost in our thoughts about what this meant for our country. I had a deep, unsettling feeling that things would never be the same, that this would change the course of our entire country, and not in a good way.  How in the world did we go from the country’s first ever black President to this lunacy? (And it’s not because he’s a Republican, hell I’d take George Bush over Trump any day… if that was my only choice). Turns out, that premonition was not entirely farfetched.  Almost four years later we are living in the middle of a global pandemic that has been completely mismanaged by our so-called leader. Even after he is diagnosed with Covid 19 he still denies it’s severity. We are watching his cabinet members either resign or fall one by one into legal disgrace.  We are seeing images of him co-horting with a known pedophile.  We are hearing, day after day, about shady business deals and corruption he is linked to, with nary a consequence. We listened to him suggest injecting a human body with disinfectants. We watch in horror as tragedies unfold, protests become violent, peaceful marchers get shot; meanwhile he calls BLM protestors “anarchists” and white supremacists “very fine people”.  He irrationally tear gassed a crowd for a photo op. Are we surprised? Afterall, this is a man who thinks his fame and fortune give him the right to grab women by the p*ssy. You can do that when you’re famous you know.   

      Listen, this is NOT political anymore. Human values, morals, and basic decency are not up for debate. Racism and misogyny are not up for debate. Ignorance and narcissism, during a time when our country is unraveling, are not up for debate. Do you think it’s a coincidence that in the last four years, thousands of citizens in our country have invoked their first amendment rights by taking to the streets against gun violence, sexual assault, women’s rights, and systemic racism?  When, in the last 50 years, have we seen people march for their lives, literally, with such dedication, passion, and unity?  This is something for the history books, something our grandchildren will one day study in their civics class. Maybe that’s one good thing that has come from this unhinged Presidency-people are speaking out and standing up for their rights like never before and it is THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING I’ve ever seen. Before Trump took office, I was never vocal about politics, and coming from a family of patriarchal Republican men, my opinion got the proverbial eye rolling. Marching for women’s rights in 2018 helped me to feel more purpose driven than I’ve ever been.  I am done being silenced, and so are most of my fellow citizens. We had to listen to Republicans scream about Obama’s birth certificate, so now it’s our chance to speak out about things that really matter.  Some of you “Trumpsters” are so privileged and absorbed in your first world problems, that your biggest complaint is wearing a mask to keep your neighbor safe. Try being dealt some real hardships in life: chronic illness, sexual assault, losing a child in a school shooting, or, to a police officer’s bullet (or knee). Grow up black or female in a white man’s world and get back to me. Lose a loved one to Covid 19 and get back to me.  Overhear your daughter’s husband boast about grabbing women by the privates and call it locker room talk.   Lose your son to a “vigilante” with illegal possession of a firearm, while Trump’s followers defend the racist p.o.s.   Listen to literally anyone else deliver a speech with intelligence and integrity and tell me Trump has an ounce of empathy or kindness in his soul lacking self. Preach to me about Jesus, and I will ask, what would Jesus do? He would be marching with Black Lives Matter, mask on, laying his healing hands on the corona virus patients, the rape victims, the targets of gun violence.  He would be standing by the women, the poor, the brown people, the less fortunate. He would not be partying with Jeffrey Epstein and calling peaceful protestors “thugs” or Mexicans “rapists” or places like Africa and the middle east “shithole” countries. (Now is the time when you’ll tell me the Clintons had “ties" to Epstein, and what about Bill anyways? He may have been a decent President, but I certainly didn’t applaud his blunder. I was able to call a spade a spade, Democrat or not). 

     This is every fiber of my being, and the fiber of about 65 million other US citizens, saying: This is wrong, this is tragic. This is not the leadership we so desperately need. Call me a Communist, a Socialist, a Radical Left Wing Loon-but I’ve finally found my voice- and if I can help  just one human being better their life, if I can be the tiniest, most miniscule part of change, if I can be an example to my niece and nephews and other children that look up to us for solid, rational guidance, then my mission is complete. Trevor Noah says, we have a contract with society, and it is our patriotic duty to honor that contract. My contract is based on love, respect, equality, safety, and boundless compassion for my fellow man. So, I ask you, Trump supporter, what is your contract based on, and why have you broken it? Why are you surprised by “looting”, when you would do the same thing if your race had been oppressed for 400 years?   Cry over Target’s broken windows, while the rest of us cry over our broken country. Cry over graffiti and rebuildable businesses, while the rest of us cry for Elijah McClain, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Jacob Blake, and so many others.   Here’s where you’ll say: but the guy had drugs in his system, he was a criminal!  Last I heard we lived in a country where every single citizen is entitled to a trial by jury, innocent until proven guilty.  (Immediate execution is reserved for “shithole” countries, right?)  I’m tired of having my foundation of beliefs, instilled in me, believe it or not, by Republican parents, questioned and ridiculed. I’m tired of seeing good, hard working people brought down by all this imbalance. I’m tired of having to live with racism, gender inequality, unnecessary gun violence, and just plain old ignorance in a country that should be passed all of that.   I ask you, Trump supporter, what is your definition of a “shithole” country? To me, it is a place without rational, intelligent leadership. It is a place where a 17 year old white male can illegally carry a weapon across state lines, take the lives of two innocent people, be hailed a patriot, while his black brothers and sisters are posthumously referred to as thugs. We can do better Trump Supporters, or as Melania says, we can “Be Best”.  Let’s make America Love Again.  Unconditionally that is.