By Peter Weinberger

Last week I wrote about Donald Trump and why as US citizens we must take a stand against a politician that is clearly not fit for the job of president.

California’s primary is less than a year away, and it’s my hope we can send a message—Republican, Democrat or Independent—that voters will not longer support candidates with low moral and ethical character, including candidates from our own parties.

Readers responded to the column in different ways. About half were personal finger-pointing emails on my character, some quite ugly and incoherent. About a third were in support, while the remainder wanted more proof.

I remind readers my original column was not a news exposé on the Trump administration. I assumed Trump’s actions have been so well documented, that even readers who did not agree would understand a differing point of view. And this was largely the case.

But I also want to make sure COURIER readers know the credible news sources that not only impacted my thinking but help inform the voting public.

Untruths and lies. There are a number of sources that review President Trump’s comments for accuracy. One highly-regarded source is on the Poynter Institute’s PolitiFact website. They review his statements and give them a grade from “true” to “pants on fire,” like A to F in school.

Since he took office, more than two-thirds of the president’s statements are “mostly false,” “false” or “pants on fire.” There are nearly 700 examples supporting the fact Trump consistently tells lies for political gain, feeding the spread of fake news. Here’s the PolitiFact url:

https://www.politifact.com/personalities/donald-trump/.

Here’s one Trump statement from February 28 as an example. “The Democrat(ic) position on abortion is now so extreme that they don’t mind executing babies AFTER birth.”

Michael Cohen. His statements to Congress last week support most everything I mentioned in last week’s column. Mr. Cohen is going to prison for lying, but was finally cornered by the House to tell the truth. And in Wednesday’s New York Times, they showed hush money checks written and signed by the president while in office to cover his improprieties.

Read more about Mr. Cohen’s testimony here:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/27/us/politics/cohen-documents-testimony.html.

The wall. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Senate Republicans are unlikely to support Trump’s emergency order to fund a wall at our southern border. This is a stunning rebuke given this group is the number-one enabler for the president. The DEA says most drugs pass through ports of entry, not during illegal border crossings. And the State Department says no terrorists have been captured climbing a border wall. None. So why build a wall?

Just this past weekend in a rally with supporters, the president said the wall is currently being built, and in fact is almost completed. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Check out the website PBS SoCal:

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-says-theres-a-crisis-at-the-border-heres-what-the-data-says.

Then there’s this piece of paper called the United States Constitution. Congress won’t appropriate money for his wall, so he’ll just create a crisis and use emergency money. Even the US Senate won’t let President Trump circumvent the Constitution for political gain. Clearly, our founding fathers choice to form three equal parts of government was a good one.

The Mafia family. President Trump surrounds himself with people who “Will be loyal above all else.” He doesn’t hide the fact he hates “flippers,” and has publicly said so. “I know all about flipping, for 30, 40 years I’ve been watching flippers,” Trump boasted during an interview. And if you’ve ever heard Roger Stone or Michael Cohen intimidate associates when working for Trump, you might think it’s a scene from The Godfather.

Then there’s Ivanka and Jared Kushner, Trump’s daughter and son-in-law. Granted high security clearance even against the advice of intelligence officials, the president wants his family in the know, even when Mr. Kushner’s honesty has come into question. Yet this is about the Trump family running our country. Leaks of top-secret information can severely damage national security, while impacting how other countries collaborate with the US. For more information, check this out.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/03/opinions/presidential-weekly-briefing-kushner-problem-vinograd/index.html.

I understand fully that President Trump has millions of supporters who trust him completely. But for myself, I cannot support someone who routinely struggles with the truth. And I do struggle to understand why so many still support the president in the face of so many exaggerations and untruths.

Here’s a Los Angeles Times story that examines this issue:

https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-trump-claims-progress-for- promises-unfulfilled-20190305-story. html.

I am not a political junkie. I’m an American who’s had enough of the President’s political rhetoric. I urge others with similar concerns to take a stand in the ballot box next year.

—Peter Weinberger

pweinberger@claremont-courier.com

NOTE: If you’d like to read last week’s My Side of the Line column, visit claremont-courier.com, where all the links to supporting stories are live, thus only one click away from viewing.