• OP-ED: THANK YOU TRUMP,
U.S. president has helped me teach my daughter
President Trump, when you were elected four years ago, my then-seven-year-old daughter cried.
Even at her young age, my little Canadian girl intuitively knew what the United States would look like with you as their leader — more divided than united, more racial inequality than equality, more challenges for the poor and benefits for the rich.
Over the four years of your sorry attempt at leadership, you have proven my daughter’s intuition was right. And you have also proven to be an incredible resource for teaching my daughter how not to be when she grows up.
So as turbulent and terrifying as your reign of nepotism and disinformation has been, I must thank you, Donald J. Trump, for teaching my daughter:
• Misogyny exists but you don’t have to be stopped by it. No matter how many times you’re called a “nasty woman” or shouted over, you can stand strong and retaliate respectfully with grace, proving you’re stronger than the man attempting to bully you.
• Men like you, Trump, make horrible life partners because of their infidelities, lying and fraudulent business dealings.
• Lies have power but you can beat them with truth. Sure, there are still Trumpers who believe the U.S. election was rigged even though no courts or judges found proof of this. And there are still people who believe the QAnon falsehoods. But seeing you, Trump, being silenced on Twitter for spreading lies shows my daughter there are consequences for lying and eventually the truth will prevail.
• Being a spoiled brat grown-up is very unbecoming. Your Trump temper tantrums, the refusal to concede the 2020 election, the many hate-fuelled Twitter frenzies were all perfect examples of why we learn as children to lose with dignity and to control our emotions when we don’t get what we want.
• Your words can be weapons so use them for good. Like the speech you gave Wednesday, Trump, to your supporters who violently stormed Capitol Hill afterwards. Supporters who were called to protest that day by things you’ve said and Tweets you’ve sent. My daughter is now 11 and she even knows you didn’t send those Tweets without knowing what you were enticing. And she knows what you instigated was wrong.
• The job of a leader is to care about the people before themselves. Something you didn’t do once while in office, Trump.
But most importantly, I think you taught my daughter that if we’re not careful when electing our national leaders, we might end up with another power-hungry, elitist like you, who threatens democracy and equality for all.
And this has made her learn she wants to grow into an adult who fights for those things and against people like you.