When Trump is a role model, hate happens

This editorial first appeared in the Sacramento Bee

During the height of the presidential campaign, with Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton at each other’s throats, Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire was asked during a debate whether she considers Trump a role model for kids.

“Absolutely, I would do that,” she said. A day later, she took it back, but the American people didn’t. Now, like it or not, the crude New York businessman-turned-politician is a de facto role model for children. Last week, we found out exactly what that means.

The day after the election, teachers in some middle schools and high schools across the nation started reporting a rash of race-based bullying. Even students in California, the bluest of blue states, weren’t safe.

First, dispiriting photos, videos and stories began surfacing on Facebook. Black students reported finding racial epithets scrawled on their lockers. In the swing state of Michigan, a Latino student uploaded footage of students chanting “build the wall.”

Incoming first lady Melania Trump was right a few weeks ago, when she said she would make it her mission to end cyberbullying if her husband was elected because “children and teenagers can be fragile.”

For days, that message seemed lost on her husband. But when pressed by CBS’ Lesley Stahl for an interview that aired Sunday on “60 Minutes,” Trump finally told his supporters to stop harassing minorities.

The president-elect says he wants to be a president for all Americans. His comments were a good start. Now he must keep it up.