President Trump is a threat to all, including Jews

While not a child Holocaust survivor, I am about the same age as Esia Friedman (Letter, “President Trump Doesn’t Deserve to Be Ridiculed,” Nov. 9, 2018). My roots are also in Lithuania from whence my father, his mother and sisters, emigrated in the early 1900s.

With the greatest respect, I must differ with her assessment of Donald J. Trump, our president. Having lived as long as we have, we surely know that good and bad, right and wrong, are not quite as simple as they may appear. There are many complexities and context to human behavior.

Yes, Trump is a staunch friend to Israel. Yes, he declared Jerusalem the historic capital of Israel. Yes, he remains generous with aid. But all this comes with a constant, heavy drumbeat of self-serving, xenophobic, race-baiting, woman-hating, law-breaking, truth-defying, white supremacy-loving, conspiracy-instigating behavior.

In the long run, this is not good for the Jewish people. Friendship and aid can turn on a dime if Trump decides it is not in his interest. But the poisonous seeds of hatred, of fear of the “other” live on. Do we have to be reminded of that?

Trump is a dangerous man to this country, to the world, and yes, to all Jews. He deserves more than ridicule; he deserves to be indicted for high crimes and misdemeanors and to be removed from office.

Florence Stahl
Greenfield, MA