Normalizing Trump
Re “Old habits carry over for Trump,” news analysis, Nov. 28
I appreciated Cathleen Decker’s thorough analysis of Donald Trump’s behavior now that he is president-elect. But it buried what should have been the headline: the fact that he broadcast to the world the blatant and obvious lie that “millions of people ... voted illegally” in the election.
To describe such behavior merely as “unprecedented” or “non-presidential” is not only a gross understatement, it also fails to place it in its proper context: the basic norms of civic discourse on which democratic government relies. A leader who lies so casually cannot be trusted at all. His judgment must always be suspect, as his thinking appears unmoored from reality.
To present this fact as simply another example to be analyzed in trying to understand Trump’s leadership style is to normalize it in a dangerous way. It is not editorializing or being partisan to headline the fact that the next leader of the free world has (once again) told a brazen lie. John Miller Irvine
If Trump has any evidence for his assertion that millions of people voted illegally in the election, let him bring it forth. Otherwise, he is a liar in a sense recognized by philosopher Immanuel Kant.
According to Kant, asserting as true what one believes to be false is not the only type of lie. One also lies in asserting as certain or well-founded what one realizes to be lacking in foundation. By this standard, Trump’s assertion is a lie.
Either that, or Trump is incapable of distinguishing what he fancies to be true from what is supported by evidence, which is also a disturbing possibility. James Van Cleve
Claremont
Not only does Trump lack the temperament and judgment to be president, but he also comes up short on maturity. In addition to all his other nonsense, now he informs us that because of voter fraud and people voting illegally, he easily could have won the popular vote.
Republicans selected to the electoral college need to think long and hard before voting for Trump and subjecting our nation to this inexperienced and dangerous man. Ralph S. Brax
Lancaster
Trump tweeted, “In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally.” Elsewhere in his most recent Twitter rant, he went on about vote recounts being a “scam” and a “waste of time and money.”
One would think that if Trump thought he had actually won the popular vote, he would welcome a recount to find all the illegal votes. Why is he against a recount? Lisa Ericsson Murphy
Pasadena
And here I was hoping Trump would have a personality transplant by now. Barbara Carlton
El Cajon