To The Reader’s Forum:

To the recent commentator who admonished a friend to “quit calling voters you don’t agree with childish names” and in the next sentence affirmed his vote for Trump; I ask “are you serious?”

There is a Wikipedia page listing all the eighth-grade names Mr. Trump has used over the years. It is divided by domestic political figures, international figures, the media, etc. There are 147 different names that Trump has used on the list. If you are offended by one person calling you an idiot for voting for a person who used almost 150 childish names against others, why are you not offended by Mr. Trump’s juvenile behavior?

This commentary went on to warn about the pending bankruptcy of the United States. I again ask, “are you serious?” Mr. Trump, whom you are proud to support, added $7 trillion to our debt in his first four years and is trying hard to add another $5 trillion in the first six months of his second term. This same Mr. Trump has declared bankruptcy six times.

Finally, this commentator claimed “Trump wins by a record majority. It was a landslide victory from the voting public.” Facts are sticky things. Trump actually did not receive a majority of the vote, let alone a record majority. The final vote count was 77 million for Trump (49.8%) and 75 million for Harris (48.3%) Trump actually received a minority of the votes cast. 2024 was the closest election since 2000 when Bush was given the presidency by a friendly Supreme Court. It was the second-closest election since 1968. Hardly a landslide. Biden’s margin over Trump in 2020 was more than twice as large. Please note, despite the close election, you did not see hoards of unpatriotic people storming the capitol building trying to overthrow the legitimate government. Were you disappointed in the way your fellow Americans reacted to that election? I’m not so sure your friend was calling you names.

Tom Meara

Jamestown