Trump’s Presidential Bid (I)
Kudos to Dr. Michael Salamon for raising the troubling issue (though it was not the main topic of his article) of how many racists and haters Donald Trump seems to be attracting to his campaign (“What I Look for in a Leader,” op-ed, Jan. 8).
The New Yorker magazine featured a lengthy article on this phenomenon, and the details were chilling to read. These bigots (many of them staunch anti-Semites) make no bones about how attracted they are to Trump’s rhetoric and the messages he conveys.
As Dr. Salamon noted, Trump doesn’t actively seek such supporters. But the fact that a number of America’s most vocal haters are intrigued by him and seem ready and even eager to vote for him should be troubling to Jews.
Add to that the fact that Trump has yet to back up his many loud pronouncements with any real details – he actually seems stumped when reporters ask him questions on a host of important issues – and I just don’t see what any intelligent person sees in him.
Brian Jacobson
(Via E-Mail)
Trump’s Presidential Bid (II)
The reactions to Donald Trump’s presidential bid have, to say the least, covered the entire spectrum of observations. Savior, destroyer, unifier, divider, bombastic, truthful, not presidential, uniquely presidential, and on and on.
I take the more positive view. He is much more than a phenomenon; he is an intelligent, successful man without the usual political baggage we’ve learned to accept or ignore. He “tells it like it is” to the dismay of the establishments of both parties and their leaders. His message is resonating with many Americans.
Our decline in the eyes of the world is incontestable. We have lost the respect of allies and earned the scorn of adversaries and enemies. Other nations see the U.S. under Obama as helpless and untrustworthy. As a Jewish American, I’m of course concerned about Israel and its longstanding relationship with the U.S. What I’ve seen over the past seven years has more than dismayed me.
Trump’s detractors are playing the unfair and totally misplaced “dictator card.” They fear a strong leader whose scorn for political correctness is a welcome change in
a nation becoming more and more polarized by the thought police of the Left. We have become so used to the clichéd rhetoric, the unfulfilled promises, and the utter failure of the people who govern us, that some of us are apprehensive of those who don’t use
the “playbook” that determines how candidates must speak.
We’ve long needed someone like Trump in the political arena.
Myron Hecker
New City, NY