Going all the way back to 2015 when Donald Trump first announced that he was running for president of the United States, I was tempted to share my personal opinion. I had read a lot about his behavior, and more importantly, had carefully listened to his speeches, talks, and interviews.

Prior to the 2016 election I had always been labeled as a strong moderate Republican. That was a fair characterization since I had never voted for a Democrat in a presidential election. However, given that I spend the majority of my working life teaching “values based leadership,” I felt there was no way I could vote for Donald Trump. Nonetheless, I decided to not be very vocal for the reasons listed below:

  1. I truly believe in our democratic system, and if the majority of my fellow Americans voted to make him president, I felt the right thing to do was try to be supportive despite the personal difficulty.
  2. An important part of my faith and religious beliefs that I was taught beginning in first grade was to love everyone, not to judge others and give people the benefit of the doubt. I was taught that there may be reasons for someone’s questionable behavior that could be understandable if I was closer to the situation.
  3. When I asked friends who actually supported Donald Trump whether what he was doing was the right thing to do, the response was often: “Harry, look at what Obama did, or what Clinton did, or what Biden did. They were much worse.” While I found this an interesting rationalization, once again, I tried to give Trump the benefit of the doubt.

So why now? Maybe it is becoming a grandfather and really worrying about the next generation. Maybe it’s because I love our country, and I’m worried about the direction in which we are headed. Maybe it’s because I have many friends around the world who are constantly asking me questions that I don’t have an answer for. Maybe it is President Trump’s response when asked if anything limits his presidential power: “Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me. I don’t need international law. I’m not looking to hurt people.”

Here’s a list of the “top 10 questions” I am constantly asked by my students, friends, and colleagues from around the world:

  1. Harry, why does your president call people derogatory names and make fun of them?
  2. Harry, why does your president feel the need to add his name to the Kennedy center and have airports named after him?
  3. Harry, you teach values based leadership. Is it right for your president to be involved in business transactions the generate billions of dollars for his family while he is president? (Some friends will say, look at what President Biden and Hunter did…. Yes, very bad but I don’t think it was billions of dollars.)
  4. Harry, why does your president want to make Canada the 51st state? Isn’t Canada an ally of the United States?
  5. Harry, why is your president demanding to purchase Greenland? Isn’t Denmark an ally? Don’t you already have military bases in Denmark that you can expand at any time?
  6. Harry, why would your President state that NATO never supported the US in Afghanistan and Iraq when more than 1500 Europeans died supporting the US in those conflicts? How would you like to be the spouse or parent of one of those killed?
  7. Harry, isn’t the United States’ relationship with NATO during the past 80 years one of the key reasons why there has not been a third World War? If so, why does your president say that NATO doesn’t matter?
  8. Harry, why would your president and vice president accuse the president of Ukraine of starting the war with Russia and not saying thank you for American support?
  9. Harry, I understand that past administrations did a horrible job of protecting your US borders that enabled millions of illegal immigrants to the US. I also understand that some of them are serious criminals. However, why would the current administration accuse virtually all immigrants of being “serious criminals” with the severe treatment that resulted in several deaths in Minnesota? Is this behavior consistent with the values of your country during the past 250 years?
  10. Harry, isn’t one of the most important parts of the American system of government the three independent branches? Why does it appear that your president totally ignores the legislative branch as well as the Supreme Court?

In addition to the above questions, I found the situation that developed last Friday raised additional questions. If you didn’t notice, the Supreme Court in a 6–3 vote ruled that President Trump did not have the legal right to impose “reciprocal tariffs.” The court found that Trump had overstepped Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution, which summarizes the powers granted to Congress: “The Framers gave ‘Congress alone’ the power to impose tariffs during peacetime,” the Court’s majority opinion stated.

Since I am not a lawyer, I am not close enough to know the right legal answer on the tariff issue. However, I believe it is not my responsibility to know the right answer. That is the reason we have a Supreme Court, and under our three branch system, when the Supreme Court makes a ruling, I was taught they are the final judge until the law changes.

So what happened? Instead of accepting the decision, our president called the judges who voted against his wishes “a disgrace to our nation,” and he further stated about Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gotsuch (whom he appointed during his first term), “I think it’s an embarrassment to their families, if you want to know the truth, the two of them.” Really? I find this lack of respect for our legal system and the Supreme Court to be way beyond unacceptable

Okay, well, as I said, I have really tried to be less vocal, but I guess we all have limits. I know there are many people who will completely disagree with my opinion, and that is fine. That is part of your right as Americans. This just happens to be my opinion.

 

 

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