Re: "Trump's Latest Birther Lie"

9/17/16

To the editor:

As Trump continues to be Trump (NYT, 9/17/16, 'Trumps latest birther lie'), Hillary Clinton repeatedly gets attacked for being such a weak candidate asserting that any other reasonable opponent would have buried Trump in the polls by now.  But it should be remembered that it was Trump who buried a field of over ten other Republicans some of whom possessed the character and potential competence to be President.  

Hillary Clinton's description of many of Trump's supporters being the the 'basket of deplorables' was insulting to a large part of the electorate. But his popularity begs the question: how can someone whose comments are, by and large, deplorable be acceptable to so many people? How can he be so appealing to so many people? 

I am sure the answers are complex but I think it is naive to believe that people support Trump in spite of his duplicity and hostility towards so many sectors of the population.  It is even more naive to believe that 'if only' there were a less flawed candidate running against him Trump's popularity would dwindle. 

Respectfully submitted,

Larry S. Sandberg