To the Editor:
Re “Trump Voters, One Year In” (letters, Jan. 18):
As one who does think of President Trump’s supporters as among the “deplorables” — people who are racist and xenophobic, people who fear the world, people who blame others for all their challenges and woes, people who hate the very idea of government as a force for good — I was fascinated to read the letters from Trump voters.
I thought it was a wise and striking decision on The Times’s part to run them in its own editorial board’s space. Indeed, that’s the space they deserved to maximize their impact.
Thanks to these letters, I do have a better understanding now of what these writers see happening under Mr. Trump: an end to pussyfooted, mealy-mouthed weakness and to regulatory overreach; a return to forcefulness and certainty on the world stage and unleashed optimism at home.
But then I stop and think about what it is they’re really so happy about: reckless threats and pointless insults passing for diplomacy; a rejection of fact, science and even the notions of decency, humanity and justice; a litany of lies and myths as the foundation of policy; and historic levels of incompetence and self-dealing across the agencies of government from the White House on down.
Mr. Trump’s more educated supporters don’t seem to see the primordial muck on which everything Trumpian is based.
Continue reading the main storyPETER BOODY, SAG HARBOR, N.Y.
The writer is a former newspaper editor.
To the Editor:
How depressing. These Trump supporters have had a year to assess a man who has spent his presidency — when he isn’t reclining in bed watching cable TV while wolfing down cheeseburgers and tweeting mean nicknames — lying, bullying and obstructing to cover up possible crimes against our democracy. Despite this, they’ve yet to wise up.
BEN JONES, KALAMAZOO, MICH.
To the Editor:
Perhaps The Times should devote an entire editorial page to flat earthers. For dialogue and understanding, of course. That is how ridiculous it is to waste vital newspaper space, in these perilous times, to people who aid and abet a president, and his congressional lackeys, who are destroying all that is noble and just about America.
Trump supporters are not open to dialogue. They feel aggrieved. They refuse to see the litany of lies, ongoing corruption and totalitarian predispositions of the person they voted for and continue to laud.
As to “helping readers who agree with us better understand the views of those who don’t,” we need you to focus on solving the threats to our democracy rather than focus ad nauseam on the supporters of the threats.
LAWRENCE ROSENCRANTZ
PORTLAND, ORE.
To the Editor:
I value your effort for fair discourse by printing letters from readers who do not agree with your viewpoint. Though I could delineate a point-by-point rebuttal to each of these letters, I will simply sum up my takeaway: The majority of writers note the positive impact of President Trump’s policies on their lives. My question for them: Did you ever consider the impact of Mr. Trump’s policies on others’ lives?
JULIE M. TEBO
CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OHIO
To the Editor:
Why do you keep asking questions of Trump voters? Who cares what they think? The Trump administration has been a complete failure and the world knows it, yet you insist on talking to people who, no matter what, think that President Trump is the messiah!
Start talking to people who have their heads in reality, who understand the problems of the world, who understand the harm an inept administration can do.
RICHARD KLINE, AUSTIN, TEX.
To the Editor:
I wanted to express my appreciation for these letters, and in particular to the people who came forward to express their views. I hope that these thoughtful voices can be the seed for real dialogue in what has too often become a vicious shouting match in which both sides fling invectives at each other.
JENNIFER GERVAIS
CORVALLIS, ORE.
To the Editor:
Dear New York Times,
Please don’t ever do that again.
ROBYN LIPMAN, NEW YORK
Continue reading the main story