Trump did use the word “vermin” in a speech in 2023, but it didn’t involve immigrants: ““We pledge to you that we will root out the communist, Marxist, fascist and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country that lie and steal and cheat on elections and will do anything possible — they’ll do anything, whether legally or illegally — to destroy America and to destroy the American dream.” It’s not phrasing that appeals to me, but there is a difference between talking about fascists that “live like vermin” and calling immigrants vermin. Trump did use the word “animals” in a discussion about illegal immigration in May 2018, but he clearly meant violent gang members, specifically referencing the MS-13 gang.

The author uses a bit of psychology speak- “Name-calling is physically and emotionally our way of protecting ourselves and it's definitely Trump's way of protecting himself-” which I guess is appropriate in that she mentions she is a psychologist, adding “I have studied Trump since the 60s…” (personally I never watched a single episode of the Apprentice “reality” show). The problem, however, in using titles and credentials to bolster legitimacy is that it should hold one to a higher standard, which demands checking and confirming quotes and sources, and questioning claims, especially specious ones,whether pleasing or not. And there have been an impressive number of not only specious claims directed against Trump but knowingly false ones (the world is still breathlessly awaiting the promised video from 2013 of Trump-hired Russian prostitutes urinating on a hotel bed in which Obama once slept).

The author stated as fact that, “Trump as president refused to visit a cemetery with more than 1800 fallen marines because ‘it's filled with losers’ and “Donald also said the same Marines were ‘suckers for dying on the battlefield.’" This is significant because recently Joe Biden made a similar statement as fact following his rather bizarre suggestion that an uncle was eaten by cannibals, and deserves serious scrutiny.

In a Sept. 2020 article in the unabashedly leftist publication The Atlantic referenced a Nov. 2018 visit Trump made to Europe to commemorate the 100^thanniversary of the WW1 armistice. Using four anonymous sources, The Atlantic reported “In a conversation with senior staff members on the morning of the scheduled visit, Trump said, “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.” In a separate conversation on the same trip, Trump referred to the more than 1,800 marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as “‘suckers’ for getting killed.” Presumably an educated and open-minded person would look at these claims with skepticism, considering 1) they were made almost two years after they were allegedly vocalized, and conveniently two months before the 2020 election 2) the purveyors- The Atlantic- was and is a clearly partisan entity 3) to this day the sources remain anonymous 4) nobody who was actually known to be with Trump at the time even hinted that he said this, including a die-hard anti-Trumper, former UN ambassador John Bolton 5) while Trump is not shy of making boorish statements, demeaning veterans wholesale would have been very out of character for him (on occasion he has besmirched the records of individual veterans, most notably John McCain, but on a personal and political level).

There are organizations called “fact checkers” that often seem to confirm facts when damaging to Trump and Republicans, but don’t see the need to intervene when questionable utterances are made by those they favor. One such organization is called Snopes and recently, despite impressive verbal contortions to paint Trump in as hideous a manner as possible, ultimately had to conclude, “In sum, the claim stemmed from a story by The Atlantic, which relied on anonymous, second-hand reports of Trump's alleged words; there was no independent footage or documented proof to substantiate the in-question comments; and Trump vehemently denies that he once called service members ‘losers’ and ‘suckers.’ While it was certainly possible that he said those things, Snopes was unable to independently verify the claim.” With "fact checkers" there is always the caveat “While it was certainly possible…” we can’t prove it’s true.

Recently a friend of mine said, “if Trump showed up at my door I would shoot him in the face.” This friend is a decent guy and often espouses peace and benevolence, but he is a victim of hating too much. As with the writer of the Transcript letter, the satisfaction of saying something damning or damaging of Trump is almost narcotic-like, regardless of the veracity or severity: hate is self-justifying. Nevertheless, these are emotions and behaviors on the personal level. Much more ominous is when people with power, money, and influence willfully and knowingly lie, not because they necessarily hate Trump but they fear Trump is a threat to their power, money, and influence. These players are reasonably described as the globalist elite, and Trump’s Make America Great Again platform is the antithesis to their ambitions and avarice, internationalist agreements- in which countries give up their sovereignty to the elitist few- being a good example.

It’s not difficult for the establishment that essentially controls information and the media, educational systems, corporations, and intelligence services to foment fear and hatred of a given person or idea, and then to manipulate their believers to do their bidding. The endless cries of “Russian collusion” that began in 2016 in an effort to thwart Trump was pretty effective in the long run despite being baseless.

More recently, beginning just a few weeks prior to the 2020 election, was the mantra that the laptop of the hapless degenerate, Hunter Biden, "has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.” The laptop contained not just photos of a drug-addled “First Son” with prostitutes, but emails that were highly suggestive of corruption tied to his father, the person who would shortly become President. The provenance of the laptop had been established by the FBI well prior to Oct. 2020, nevertheless, 51 intelligence experts (save us from “experts!”) signed a letter with the “has all the earmarks…” statement because to allow it to be accurately reported would have diminished Biden’s election chances.

Upon losing the election Trump cried foul; it was mostly after the fact, but he and his supporters were accused of “election interference.” Similar claims were made not infrequently by Democrats in prior elections they lost, but what the heck, they were filled with indignant righteousness. I think actions like the intentional suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story by those in power and mud-slinging, unsubstantiated accusations as made in The Atlantic (there is a long list) before the election by those who pretend to cherish democracy do actually qualify as “election interference:”democracy is wonderful as long as it’s in their favor.

I have a personal belief that Democrat voters, as compared to Republican ones, tend to love their candidates too much and hate their opponents in excess of reason. I know a lot of people who voted for Trump and will do so again, but hardly any of them deny he’s a blowhard who too often says idiotic things: they are able to get beyond his abrasiveness because, if nothing else, the alternative is bleak indeed.

The writer of the Assimilate 201 letter used several non-sequiturs and a few head-scratching statements. Towards the end she claimed (of Trump), “He's also quite afraid of dogs and has never had one.” The general consensus of history is that Adolf Hitler was not only a dog-lover but a vegetarian. I too am a dog-lover and vegetarian, but I don’t think that makes me a Hitlerian. People are free to vote against Trump, and that is understandable, but hopefully they will do so with thoughtfulness and reason and not simply because they hate him; because he never had a dog.

The original Letter to the Editor of the Susquehanna Transcript:

Congress does have laws against funding and punishment of those who cause riots. There are many serving sentences currently for trying to delay and destroy the last election. With 60 court cases thrown out denying wrong vote counts, Trump lost the election. He did not win, and if he says it over and over people start to believe it. If you're one of those voters, please realize that's his wish, not a reality and so what it is not, becomes your reality.

We are a nation of immigrants, unless you are a native American Indian. Each wave of immigrants are looked down on and called terrible names. I am 90 and I remember the names used to put immigrants down, until the next group comes along. These name were terrible, and were used by a lot of people. They continue to be terrible! Most all immigrants when they come into our country are very hard workers and work very low paid jobs on their way up the ladder. Name-calling is physically and emotionally our way of protecting ourselves and it's definitely Trump's way of protecting himself. He has recently called immigrants vermin, which was a favorite name used by Hitler. In case you didn't know, Hitler killed 8 million mostly educated Jewish people in large gas ovens. You can visit some of them to see how terrible it was. We in the USA made it extremely difficult to let Jews into our country. Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of the president was one of the few people in this country who openly welcomed Jews after the war. She had a social conscience that most of our citizens took a while to accept. Our country benefits from the many Jewish citizens who live here now, as it will for current immigrants. Admittedly, we do need better border controls.

Both current candidates for president are old. I have followed political ideas for years as a psychologist.  I have studied Trump since the 60s when he got his money from his father. He went bankrupt several times in Atlantic City casinos saved by his father, who bought off the loss for him by buying tokens generally used to gamble with to settle his debt. Trump was known for stiffing contractors, who did not have the money to hire good lawyers like he could. He would do anything to impress others, like often calling newspapers and impersonating others to tell about some grand thing Trump was doing. It is astounding to me how many people think he is the cats meow!

Trump was a draft dodger. He faked bone spurs to avoid the Vietnam draft. Trump as president refused to visit a cemetery with more than 1800 fallen marines because "it's filled with losers." Donald also said the same Marines were "suckers for dying on the battlefield." He attacks Goldstar families, mocked the late Senator John McCain for being captured and avoids being seen around amputees. He's also quite afraid of dogs and has never had one.

Trump cultivates church goers, but has no idea what's in or how to hold a Bible and never has gone to church. Sorry, he knows how to sell a $59.99 Bible! Think about who you are voting for. Biden may not be as dynamic but his character and values are much better!

Sincerely,

Nancy XXXX, Uniondale