Dear Family (and friends) That Continue Supporting Trump
We Need to Talk
I don’t relish what you’re about to read, and honestly take no joy in typing this. I debated about even sharing because I don’t like talking about this topic. It tires me out.
Look, I understand how we, as individuals and mildly sovereign beings, will do and think as each sovereign individual pleases, ideally so far as it doesn’t hurt others. However, herein lies a problem. I think this partly where frustrations of many in my weirdo millennial generation are congealing. The problem, you see, or rather… don’t always see, is that some of your actions of the political leaders you have chosen to support may in fact be hurting more people than you choose to acknowledge. This has caused a great disappointment, especially in your seemingly unwavering support for President Donald Trump.
This probably won’t come as a hot take, but I’m definitely not a fan of the 45th President.
To be blunt; if Trump were just some rich, reality show TV character… to a certain extent, I’d understand his appeal (to some people, not me). It’s like that time when Charlie Sheen dominated the headlines with his train wreck interviews many of us couldn’t help but watch. Remember that? But, since ascending to the Presidency, this new Trump train wreck just feels… different. Something feels off, and not necessarily in the fun kinda way when we were all watching Charlie Sheen ramble about tiger blood. Maybe it’s because lives and livelihoods are at stake.
If it’s any consolation, please note; I don’t want to get into a policy debate. I understand the nuances involved in a robust discussion on policy. However, I’ve discovered that “policy debates” are sometimes a distraction from talking about things honestly, not to mention a way for some to quickly pivot to other topics in attempts to “win” the discussion. More knowledgeable sources of information have covered Trump’s policy ideas ad nauseum, to the point where it’s all probably just background noise to most at this point.
But I digress.
I’d rather talk about the humanity, or the lack thereof surrounding our current president. What I mean by that is, I want to talk about his character and his moral compass, or lack thereof.
The Content of His Character
You see, I believe the content of Donald J. Trump’s character has been lost in the glut of 24 hour news cycle information overload. You may disagree with this, but I don’t think it’s been spoken enough about who the 45th president is as a person. This runs parallel to my second reason, in that I feel like his character runs antithetical to everything you’ve taught me about life, not to mention it runs antithetical to who (I think/hope) you are as a person. Moreover, Trump’s character (and continued racist statements) also go against everything that I think you believe the United States stands for. It’s baffling to understand what so many see in Trump in terms of leadership material!
Having said that, I do understand how you feel about Trump, not to mention how your feel about Democrats and those who oppose him. The problem is that the 45th President might not be the America loving, white-knight outsider fighting-for-the-people preaching “America first” you feel he is. Despite what he may say, evidence suggests Trump is not working for the American people, but rather his rich friends and those who continue their loyalty to the 45th President.
I know, the government is a giant entity, so maybe Trump is unaware that those connected to him continue getting relief and financial aid. Regardless, when Trump’s rich friends keep getting bailed out, it doesn’t exactly look like he’s “draining the swamp.” If it is true that Trump isn’t always aware of what’s going on inside his administration, wouldn’t that still be a little alarming? If we were to take his words at face value during Coronavirus press conference in April, Trump wasn’t even aware that he or someone in his administration disbanded the Pandemic Office in the White House. According to Robert Mackey of The Intercept, by admitting something like that, “…it suggests that he still has little idea, and less interest, in what happens in his own White House.”
But again I digress.
While all of that should be troubling enough, those examples are closely tied with his duties as president and not about who he is as a person.
There’s one story in particular that illustrates my point about President Trump’s lack of character to an alarming degree. Personally, I think it may be the most overlooked story of the whole Trump presidency so far. The highly downplayed fact is that Trump’s offspring, and even Trump himself ADMITTED in actual COURT DOCUMENTS to using CHILDREN’S CHARITY MONEY to enrich themselves. This isn’t some "liberal hit job story" or a case of the press out to get him. This is an actual, real thing that happened where TRUMP ADMITTED to doing it in actual, legal, on-the-record court documents. Like, it’s kind of baffling to me how more people aren’t just continually talking about that. TRUMP ADMITTED to doing this in court, which means it’s probably true when people explain how he said
My point being is that if the current President of the U.S. doesn’t care about taking money from sick kids with cancer, that means there’s a better than average chance he doesn’t give a crap about the people he claims to represent. Unfortunately, that also means there’s a decent chance Trump doesn’t care about people suffering from a global pandemic, especially if it could “hurt his numbers.” Yes, you read that right. Unfortunately, the President of the United States preferred to lie/downplay the severity of a global pandemic because he was afraid it was going to hurt his re-election chances.
And remember, Trump has actually ADMITTED TO all of this, either in COURT DOCUMENTS or ON CAMERA.
The sad part is, this isn’t the first time Trump has taken a harsh stance toward children. Unfortunately, I don’t even have time to get into the fact that Donald Trump (along with his siblings) terminated medical coverage to a nephew who, at the time suffered from a neurological disorder because they were upset that other members of their family were suing them.
And if Trump doesn’t care about family members with brain disorders or kids with cancer, he probably doesn’t care about the men and women in uniform despite his posturing of how “Nobody has done more for the military than [him.]” Yes, Trump does things for SOME members of the military, but it’s fairly obvious he only likes those members who sing his praises and does what he wants (not unlike a dictator). Those who don’t or speak ill of Trump get the Twitter treatment even if they are Purple Heart recipients, even if they are some of the top generals questioning his tactics or even members of the military trying to warn of a growing Coronavirus outbreak on a ship.
Trump sure has a habit of attacking military families who disagree with him, or even verbally attacking former members of the military on Memorial Day. For a guy who claims to love America and the military, he sure has an odd way of expressing it.
Some of this might be surprising unless we remember that if Trump doesn’t care about someone dying in front of him, then Trump certainly doesn’t care about those hurt in the line of duty, or even those whose job it is protect him since Trump ACTUALLY CHARGES Secret Service money to stay at his hotels while they’re on duty! Remember, if he doesn’t care about those hurt in the line of duty or those who protect his life, then Trump definitely doesn’t care about kids with cancer, or an ailing nephew.
This is where I find it disheartening, especially after everything you have tried to instill in me in attempts to make my brother and I moral, halfway decent people. Like, remember that time you were filled with pride when you saw me helping the janitors clean up after one of the high school plays I was performing in? Can you picture Trump doing something like that? And that’s the unfortunate, sad truth; President Trump, by accounts of many former employees is not even a halfway decent person.
And look, I get that employees aren’t always big fans of their boss. What’s odd though, is that in the beginning, weren’t all these people originally supposed to be, according to Trump, not only the best people for his administration, but also the smartest cabinet in history? Again, I understand that maybe Trump was just being braggadocios, as he’s been apt to do. But, something is not right when a total of 14 people (so far) who formerly worked as advisers or directly with President Trump are now in jail (granted one was pardoned recently). And these are supposed to be his “best people?” Regardless of whether you agree with what these people have said about him or not, don’t these continued incidents show that maybe Trump is not the brightest crayon in the box when it comes to judging the characters of others?
Speaking of judging people, our current President, supposedly too busy to have a dog in the White House, seems to enjoy doing that most of all, going so far as to tweet at literally all hours of the day, in some cases breaking records on Twitter instead of (in my opinion) taking time to run the country. Growing up, I remember being given quite a few lectures about how much time I spent on my phones, computer or watching TV. Have you heard of how much time Trump spends watching TV a day? Like when is Trump actually “running the country” especially if he’s supposedly watching repeats of old baseball games?
But again, I digress.
My point isn’t about Trump’s TV and phone habits, it’s about how he communicates through these mediums. Growing up, I can’t even count the number of times the universal golden rule was ingrained into my brother and I, having watch shows with messages like "sharing is caring," or the whole “don’t hit back/turn the other cheek.” I feel like if I said half of the things our President has, my friends would be super offended, meanwhile my parents would wonder where they “went wrong” in raising me.
And look, I’m not saying I’m a saint. I’m sure there have been several occasions where some family have wondered where they “went wrong” in raising me already. I acknowledge I’ve done and said some things you may not be particularly fond of. However, I am not running an entire country, which perhaps we all just assumed carried more responsibility.
Excuses… Excuses…
Unfortunately, That same argument has also been used to defend Trump as well. He’s definitely not a saint, yet many (including sometimes yourselves) treat him like one. It’s amazing to me at the sheer number of excuses Trump supporters invent in order to defend his behavior. After a point, there’s an exasperation that myself and many in my generation feel when trying to talk honestly about this current President. What’s most alarming is that there’s still so much support for him. Like wtf? It’s weird to see so many support someone who claims they are not like the “establishment politicians,” yet Trump, like many politicians, says one thing yet does the opposite. Even when it comes to his promise of “draining the swamp,” Trump seems to say one thing and do another.
While I was never a fan of Clinton, I find it funny in hindsight how much was made of her un-trustworthiness and character, etc. during the 2016 election. Yet, now that Trump is President, he basically gets a pass on nearly everything he says or does because of various excuses. I know these excuses because I’ve heard you say some of these or something similar.
A common excuse I’ve heard over and over again is this whole idea that "He’s telling it like it is."
If that even is the case, it seems like sometimes even when Trump speaks his mind, it annoys those who work for him. Also, is Trump just telling it like it is when he’s charging a charity event for kids with cancer? Speaking of telling it like it is… does anyone remember when Trump said Coronavirus testing was overrated yet he made damn sure that anyone who was meeting with him got tested, not to mention the fact that Trump is being tested daily. There’s also the case of Trump’s continued harangues against voting by mail even though many of his family members, including himself have voted by mail. So much for telling it like it is!
My least favorite excuse is "Well at least the economy is good." As far as that argument is concerned, I’ve already written about that excuse in an earlier story. You are certainly welcome to read it, if you choose. Personally, I think there’s more to life than just paychecks and status. But, that’s a discussion for a different time. Suffice to say, I find that excuse particularly disheartening because I feel like it’s a convenient way to compartmentalize and ignore the continued moral shortcomings of the person you feel is fighting for you. When I hear the economy excuse, I get disappointed because it fails to acknowledge empathy. Essentially, what myself and others hear when this excuse is deployed is akin to saying "Well, maybe he denigrates women and minorities/disrespects the military, but at least my bank account/wallet aren’t affected." SAD.
And again, just so we’re clear, you’re OK with Trump charging a charity event for kids with cancer as long as it doesn’t affect your bank account?
There are two excuses for his behavior that I hear the most.
The first is "Well, that’s just Trump being Trump." At first, I thought I understood that statement to mean something like, "Well that’s why people who voted for him like him." But that doesn’t make sense to me anymore because that’s like saying "Well, people voted for him because he’s kind of an asshole/not a good person." I think I understand the bare minimum of this statement, in that I’ve heard an extended version of this explanation, where someone says “Well if Trump weren’t Trump, then it wouldn’t make good television.” Something like that. But the larger and more concerning part of that statement resides in the final few words of that sentence where it’s like, you find his asshole-ery entertaining? Since when was it cool to start rooting for the generic 80’s douche-bag villain? Again, like srysly? When we’d watch National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and it got to the part about Clark Griswold’s boss cutting bonuses, I don’t remember anyone cheering for Mr. Shirley or saying “he’s telling it like it is!”
But hey man, I guess it’s just Trump being Trump when he charges a charity event for kids with cancer, right?
Another statement that excuses his behavior is that "Trump’s the type of person who is a counter puncher, when somebody attacks him, he attacks back." Another variation on this excuse is something about how he’s always being attacked by the media. I understand what you’re saying, but what happened to that whole thing you and other adults taught my generation about never hitting back? I distinctly remember one time in particular watching football with dad and a fight broke out during that game. Players from both teams were ejected, and I remember dad saying something like, “That’s why you never hit back, because then you get in trouble too.”
But I guess it’s one of those things where it doesn’t count if it’s politics or something? Why are you totally OK giving a pass to the current President when he says things about someone’s dead husband or insults a prisoner of war? Why is it ok when he insults women? Why is it ok he denigrates people of other races?
In the end, I guess it’s totally cool that Trump charged a charity for kids with cancer because they probably did or said something disparaging about him, and he’s just hitting back, right?
I just bring these examples up because I wonder what, if any, line he could cross that would make you reconsider supporting him as a person. I sincerely don’t want Trump to be right when he said
“I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and not lose any voters.”
In case you’ve forgotten; yes, Trump actually said that.
It’s unnerving to hear continued support for a man who, while people are getting sick and dying during a global pandemic, would rather talk about the “good ratings” he’s bringing in for the media or other dumb bullshit. If you need any more proof that President Trump doesn’t give a shit about anyone but himself, a Market Watch headline succinctly puts numbers to it:
“Three weeks of Trump coronavirus briefings under a microscope: 2 hours spent on attacks, 45 minutes on self-congratulation — and 4½ minutes of condolences for victims”
Maybe you don’t care much for President Trump, but are OK with him since he’s aligned to the same political party as yours? To me, even that’s a lame excuse considering in the past, according to Wikipedia, he’s “changed his party affiliation five times.” Like, did he for real “see the light and switch to a republican” again or did he just switch parties because he saw an easier path to power? Or is his political party switcheroo a good thing because it shows he’s really an outsider?
Speaking of outsiders, that’s another excuse many Trump supporters and apologists use in explaining their support of the 45th President. They say he’s an outsider; not beholden to the political system. I suppose in essence that’s definitely a statement some people believe to be true. The problem though, is that statement assumes a so-called outsider has purer motives than those who work within the political system. Maybe that’s true some of the time, but not all the time. An example of this can readily be found in the hit musical The Music Man, about an a small town in Indiana besieged by charismatic outsider con-artist who convinces everyone to buy musical instruments for their children so they don’t get in capital “T” trouble by playing pool. But I guess those kids with cancer were probably too establishment or something, so he charged them to show what an outsider he is. Right?
I don’t mean to sound like a broken record, repeatedly bringing up how Trump and his family used children’s cancer charity money for personal gain (which he ADMITTED to doing in court documents). But I bring it back to that because, as I said previously, I think that story in particular exemplifies who he is as a person.
It might be tempting to think that after such an incident Trump may have learned his lesson, like certain senators had hoped after the whole impeachment fiasco. Unfortunately, if Trump’s answer to a question about what he learned from the impeachment is any indication, chances are, he probably hasn’t learned anything and/or doesn’t really care to, because he lacks empathy.
This isn’t the only time Trump has proven incapable of learning or expressing regret. The morning after Trump had peaceful protesters and clergy tear-gassed so he could get a photo-op at a nearby church, Trump expressed anything but remorse, even lying about the fact that tear gas was used despite evidence to the contrary. Even National Guardsmen at the scene understood the wrongness of this event. Or who could forget the time that the 45th President of the defended Buffalo police walking by a bleeding 75 year old man they shoved to the ground. PS — That guy suffered a fractured skull and and a brain injury, but I guess that’s ok because the President said he was part of ANTIFA.
The sad part is, I feel like some might argue that the incident of Trump charging a children’s cancer charity is merely a one time thing, that Trump actually cares for disadvantaged kids. Unfortunately, that assumption would also be wrong because the US Government is suing a Texas orphanage to obtain it’s land for Trump’s all important border wall. Think about that for a second. Trump wants his border wall so bad he’s willing to sue an orphanage. Like seriously, what the actual fuck??
But again, these are just examples of Trump being Trump, telling it like it is because he’s a counter-punching outsider as long as your bank account isn’t affected. Right?
In the End
I’m sorry. In no way am I attempting to suggest you support these specific, previously mentioned actions taken by President Donald Trump and those in his administration. My intention was not for this to sound like a lecture. The purpose for writing this is simply to express my deep disappointment in your continued support for someone who, in my opinion, not only doesn’t deserve your support but also isn’t fighting for people like you or even the most disadvantaged of us. If he was, why does it just so happen that mostly people connected to him get rich, including family members and other political elite?
Of all people, Howard Stern, a former friend of Trump said it best when he ranted on one of his shows, saying, “The people who are voting for Trump, for the most part … he wouldn’t even let them in a f*cking hotel. He’d be disgusted by them. Go to Mar-a-Lago, see if there’s any people who look like you. I’m talking to you in the audience.”
Please note, I’m also not saying all of this to disparage, nor am I rubbing in your face that I feel you made a mistake. I just don’t think you should vote for this guy.
Look, I’m most assuredly not trying to tell you who to vote for. That’s ultimately up to you. But please know that there are other choices to make your voice heard besides voting for Donald Trump. And if you feel uninspired by the choices, that’s ok too. Welcome to the club. How many people do you know super pumped to vote for Biden? Write in someone else on the ballot if you feel. But, when you are voting later this year, I ask you to think of the children’s cancer charity he charged or the orphanage he’s suing. Ask yourself if you want someone who continues making racists statements as the kind of person you want representing the country you feel is the greatest country in the world.
And if, after reading all this you find yourselves trying to defend Trump’s actions, I’m afraid I have some unfortunate bad news for you. If, after reading this you still feel like voting for him, that’s ultimately your choice. In the end, you have to live with the consequences of that choice, and I can only hope that the kool-aide you continue to drink doesn’t become toxic. Just know that should you decide to vote for Trump after everything I’ve mentioned, what respect I have for you will evaporate, not to mention I might begin to question the soundness of many future actions you take. More importantly though, a regrettable amount of shame will be forever stain my tone whenever I speak your name to friends and others folks in the future. I don’t want that. But if that’s how it has to be, just remember it will ultimately be your choice.
Brycical is by no means a sociologist. He doesn’t even hold a degree in political science or psychology. But still, like many people, Brycical isn’t immune to noticing certain patterns about how the world apparently “works” for some. So Brycical writes about it, hoping more will notice these patterns, get inspired and perhaps feel inclined to also speak up. Feel free to read more of the patterns Brycical notices on here or check out his website to learn more about him.
