I attend two discussion forums.  We usually have about 20 persons in attendance in each forum..  One is all male, the other is mixed male and female.  Both forums have a preponderance of anti-Trumpers.

I live in a very liberal county in a very liberal state.

Recently I exchanged e-mails with a member of the mixed forum.  He is a thoughtful, well-educated person for whom I have great respect.  He despises Trump.  These are a few things he said about the man:

“He’s all about macho and looking tough, . . .His role model is Putin. . . .

“He knows only to  ignore truth and tell lies.  He is all about self and cares nothing for others.  His primary goal is to attain retribution on anyone who opposes him.  As he preaches retribution, it is heard by his followers as permission to hate those who oppose him.  And his worda are words calling for action; not mere disagreement. . . .(He is guilty of ) tampering with election results and attempting to defy the Constitution to remain in office.”

It is obvious that this man and I get our news from different sources.  As I recently told members of the forum, “For each of us, truth is who we listen to.”

Here is my own evaluation of the man. 

With the possible exception of Andrew Jackson, Donald Trump is the most un-Presidential person to ever occupy the White House.  He can be reasonably pleasant if he wishes to be, but somtimes he is crude, rude, and downright obnoxious.  He rails against anyone who offends or opposes him, and sometimes engages in vicious ad-hominem attacks.  Members of the mainstream media are a constant target of his barbs, and he refers to them as the “fake news.”  The television and press pundits whom he attacks hate Trump as much as he dislikes and disparages them, and that has the unfortunate effect of skewing their news coverage. Reporters on CNN and MSNBC will never say anything positive about Trump, and they describe him as a horrible human being.  No wonder some of their viewers expressed disappointment when the assassin’s bullet missed its mark.

Trump’s mouth is his own worst enemy.   He often talks too much, and he doesn’t know how to organize his thoughts and express them cogently and coherently.  His speeches exhibit braggadocio, excessive hyperbole, and downright prevarication, though he usually exaggerates rather than telling outright lies.  He will sometimes contradict himself within the course of several sentences.  His basic fault appears to be a rather undisciplined approach to the English language.  He is very imprecise in his wording, far removed from the lawyerly, non-committal utterances of most politicians. 

But Trump has many good qualities.  Although twice divorced and a womanizer (though not in Clinton’s class and probably past tense), he maintains good relationships with former wives and all his children and grandchildren.  The family bonds appear to be very close, and I  don’t think it’s all about his money. His children have turned out well.  They are hard working, productive citizens. Not many multi-millionaires can say the same of their progeny.  Also, although Trump has a questionable record insofar as his relationship with some formerly close associates (e.g. Kelly and Pence), he has many people who have worked with or for him for months or years and appear quite devoted to him.  Many give glowing accounts of his thoughtfulness and generosity.  Is it all show on his part?  Who truly knows the heart of this man?

I tend to judge his actions, not his words.

I thought Trump’s first three years as President were quite successful.

0 – By executive action, Trump eliminated many burdensome and often useless regulations that hampered business activities.  This initiative was particularly helpful to small businesses.

0 -Trump sponsored legislation to reduce the tax rate for most income earners, thus freeing great amounts of money for consumer spending and capital investment.  The economy responded positively.  Stock reached new highs, and employment rates, especially among blacks and Latinos, reached new highs.  Unemployment compensation and food stamp distribution went down.

0-Trump slowed the influx of people across our southern border by building a border wall. He also persuaded Mexico to hold immigrants south of the border while they were being vetted.  The flow of illegal immigrants was reduced to the lowest levels in decades.

0-Trump appointed conservative justices to the courts — men who believe in enforcing the law as written instead of interpreting it in the light of current sensibilities.

0-Trump increased the defense budget as needed to restore military capabilities that had been seriously depleted by a series of Middle East wars.

0-Trump and his military commanders eliminated the ISIS Caliphate and reduced the threat of terrorist attacks against the United States and its allies.

0-Trump isolated and weakened Iran, curbing its threat to Israel and its other Middle Eastern neighbors.

0-Trump succeeded in persuading most European NATO members to pay their fair share toward mutual defense.

0-Trump took actions that showed him to be a firm friend of the American religious community and the nation of Israel.

0-Trump negotiated new and more favorable trade deals with a number of foreign nations, including Canada, Mexico and China.

0-Trump confronted China about its unfair trade practices and backed it up with threats of tariffs – including a few actual implementations.  The gambit appeared to be working as Trump left office.

0-On the advice of Senator Tim Scott, Trump initiated a program for “enterprise zones”  in large cities to fight urban blight and benefit poor inner-city blacks.

0-With the assistance of black leaders willing to work with him, Trump had Congress enact criminal justice reform measures to ensure more equitable treatment of persons convicted of non-violent (usually drug-related) offenses.  Trump also took measures to insure the regular flow of federal assistance to traditional black universities. 

That was an impressive list of achievements, and Trump did it in the face of very heavy headwinds.  The opposition was always trying to block him and remove him from office, and there was little across the aisle cooperation. The Mueller investigation went on during most of his first two years in office, and shortly following that came his first impeachment and trial. The Democrats were back in control of the House in January 2019, and the Covid pandemic struck in early 2020.   At that point the Trump administration was effectively over.

When Trump again became a candidate for President in 2023-4, the Democrat DOJ and independent state and local prosecutors went after him with the obvious intent of destroying his  chances for reelection,  Most of the legal charges brought against him were ridiculous and should have been dismissed outright.  Nevertheless, some of them went forward at great cost to Trump and his campaign. In some respects, however,  these trials heightened his appeal to many potential voters..

Democrats have expressed fears that Trump may seek revenge against his persecutors should he rewin the Presidency..  There appears to be little chance of that.  During the 2016 election season Trump supporters would often chant “Lock Her Up” with reference to Hillary Clinton.   As President, Trump made no move against  her.  Now, during this campaign, Trump has said on many occasions that victory will be his revenge, and he does not wish to turn the United States into a banana republic.  I take him at his word.

Two final points:

I have tuned in on a number of Trump rallies, though I don’t stay long because of his tendency to say the same things over and over again.  In all my listening I have never heard Trump call for violence against those who oppose him.  He will disparage them and mock them, but that is the extent of it.  His followers leave his rallies happy, not angry or calling for vengeance.

As for the charge that he tampered with election results and attempted to defy the Constitution, I don’t believe that to be true.  I’m persuaded that Trump and some of his close advisors were absolutely convinced that they had been cheated out of victory in 2020.  There were good reasons to believe this.  Covid caused a massive increase in the volume of mail voting, and many states were not equipped to handle it.  Zucker poured a half billion dollars into the Biden election effort, and there was evidence of fraud (though how serious remains unknown). Perhaps worst of all, the media put a total clamp on damaging information that was revealed in Hunter Biden’s laptop.  I believe that alone changed the election’s outcome.  No wonder Trump was furious, and he tried desperately to slow the confirmation process as his confederates searched for campaign skulduggery.  I see nothing illegal or unethical about that effort. Of course, January 6 was a sad, unfortunate event, and Trump bears some blame, but it was no insurrection.