In Defense of Donald Trump

In Defense of Donald Trump

Now that the Republican National Convention has painted President Trump with a new brush, we can see him as a different person from the one most of us think we know.  He is, some claim, sweeter and softer, rather like a new flavor of cupcake, and kinder and more compassionate, sort of a Father Teresa.  It’s about time to emphasize a number of other unappreciated qualities he has modestly hidden.  A simple list of some of his words and deeds, in no particular order, should suffice to dispel some of the common reactions to his personality.

At the convention he did NOT mock any disabled people.

He set an example for hard working Americans by taking on an extra job, selling Goya products in the Oval Office.

He may not own a dog, but as the Access Hollywood tape demonstrates, he has expressed a fondness for felines.

He has welcomed several immigrants from Eastern Europe, married two of them, and taken a whole family into his own family.

He has generously contributed a substantial sum of money and provided a good deal of publicity to assist the career of a previously little known young film actress whose work had been limited to a narrow genre of the cinema.

He is a great defender of marriage, has done it three times.

Apparently pro-life, he has fathered at least five children by at least three women; like King David, to whom many Evangelical Christians compare him, in John Dryden’s words, he spread his Maker’s image through the land.

Although with his typical diffidence he has not claimed it, he is no doubt the most ecumenically minded president in history.  In addition to being so warmly embraced and blessed by a flock of Evangelical pastors, a couple of months ago he  made two separate religious pilgrimages, one on foot through a valley of danger, visiting both a Protestant and a Roman Catholic site. On top of all that, interrupting his statement on another subject, he also gave a shout out to the Jewish community, “Yo Semite.”

Think for a moment of what he’s done for the publishing industry, those dozens of books he has inspired, and his consequent support for all those writers.

By courageous example, he has also, in these difficult times, endorsed the makers of hair dye and pancake makeup.

For a man who modestly claims not to read, he has uttered some spontaneous poetry that can only be termed Dadaist.  The disquisition on windmills some time ago and more recently, the showerhead speech, provide unique examples of his mastery of this difficult and often baffling literary genre.  (If you doubt me, read the texts).

Finally, in light of his comments some time ago about how he spent the Vietnam years avoiding sexually transmitted diseases, which as he said was his “personal Vietnam,” we should understand the true depth of his learning: in what must be a reference to the classics, he was actually of course fighting the Trojan War.  Those expensive prep schools are worth every penny.