Dissing America’s veterans disqualification for office

To the editor:

I am a 70-year-old U.S. Navy submarine veteran who proudly served during the Vietnam War. Normally, I stay away from politics because I’ve seen that too often it serves to divide people instead of bringing them together. While I am not a member of any political party, I have voted for a Republican president more times than Democrat, but something happened that changed my mind.

After listening in disbelief to the lies and hate-filled rhetoric that spewed from Donald J. Trump’s lips over and over again, my decision to not vote Republican in 2020 was one of the easiest ones I have ever made. Then Trump called military veterans “suckers and losers.” That’s not fake news, he actually said it, and for me, it was the final straw. I had to get involved to make sure this man never gets elected again.

I’m not alone. Dozens of current or former Republican Party figures have already endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. Forty out of 44 of Trump’s hand-picked cabinet members have refused to endorse him.
Republican outreach director Austin Weatherford told The Associated Press that Trump’s “extremism is toxic to the millions of Republicans who no longer believe the party represents their values.”

These defections are no coincidence. Trump represents an existential threat to our hard-won democracy, and many in his own party, the ones who served under him and know him best, want him gone.

Another four years of a Trump presidency would be a national nightmare. If we all get out and vote, we won’t go back.

Thomas P. Jonet, Shawano