Some thoughts about Trump, our illegitimate president

To The Daily Sun,

A recent essay by Maureen Dowd in the New York Times labelled Donald J. Trump the illegitimate President. This made me think a bit more about his election and actions since then. In reality, Trump is only 50% illegitimate, as he did win the electoral college, primarily because of the actions of voters in Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin, states which in the past that have voted for Democratic candidates. Unfortunately, the electoral college is a throwback to days of yore and was designed primarily to get the votes of the southern states when our present constitution was being proposed and adopted.

The real item that indicates his illegitimacy was the popular vote which he lost by a significant percentage and better reflects the views of most of the citizens of the United States. This vote represents the thoughts of folks in the suburban and urban regions of the U.S. and, since those areas are far more diverse than rural America where much of Trump’s support comes from, really represent the true America.

But Trump is illegitimate in many other ways, most important being his wealth. As many other authors have shown, Trump started out with a “silver spoon in his mouth” because the start of his financial wellbeing came from contributions from his father. Apparently, even in middle school, he was a millionaire because of his father. Although he has invested over the years in many different financial areas — a university, a steak company, an airline, casinos, hotels, etc. — most of those endeavors have failed and he experienced a number of bankruptcies.

We might consider one bankruptcy an honor because the person had gone beyond the traditional norms. For example, we could look at the life of Steve Jobs. His loss of position at Apple and then his triumphant return signified his competency as innovator and his ability to lead a major company. Trump has shown none of those abilities. His idea of running a business was to cheat his contractors and employees of their earnings or, with respect to his foundation, to use the donations for his own benefit.

Trump is also illegitimate in his treatment of women and children. One can see this in the way he has treated his three wives and the children of those three wives. He doesn’t want to be photographed with one of his daughters, as he thinks she is obese. He often insinuates that his older sons are stupid; perhaps, they are, but as a father, I would never say that about my own progeny. He even insinuates that he would have sexual relationships with Ivanka if she weren’t his daughter. Watching the videos of his interactions with children (Halloween, Easter) demonstrates his lack of compassion towards children. What adult would put candy on top of a person dressed as “Humpty-Dumpty” when the child had a basket in his/her hand for the candy?

Legitimate presidents don’t bribe other nations to gather dirt on their opposition. Legitimate presidents don’t ask.

Larry Spencer

Plymouth