* Opinions expressed in Letters to the Editor are not necessarily those of The Messenger.
I was desperate for a salesperson and we only had one applicant. In talking with his references, there was hesitation as they made benign comments. I could tell there were things they avoided saying. I hired him anyway. We soon discovered he was misleading customers. I talked to him, “Dude, (not his real name) honesty is really important to us…” His (eyeroll) response, “Okaaaay…” was not reassuring.
Even though he was bringing in revenue, we let him go. Keeping him would have hurt our business’ reputation and morale in the office.
So, I need to know how Trump’s references check out. A great resource would be the people who worked with him day to day. Talking with these smart folks who were “in the room” with the former president during his first term would offer great insight. What do they have to say? How do they feel about Trump having a second term? (A partial list is included below)*
Of the 44 former cabinet members who served with Trump, 40 refuse to endorse him.
That is a definite red flag.
Melanie Dobson, Dodge Center
Former newspaper owner/editor (now marketing designer and substitute teacher)
*Here’s a partial list with some quotes from people who worked with and supported Trump but now renounce him:
Mark Esper, U.S. secretary of defense July 2019-Nov. 2020. Trump is not "fit for office because he puts himself first, and I think anybody running for office should put the country first."
Stephanie Grisham, White House press secretary, July 2019 - April 2020 and chief of staff to first lady Melania Trump, April 2020 - January 2021. “He used to tell me when I was press secretary, ‘Go out there and say this.’ And if it was false, he would say, ‘It doesn’t matter, Stephanie. Just say it over and over and over again, people will believe it.’ “He knows his base believes in him. He knows he can basically say anything and his base will believe what he’s saying.”
Mike Pence, loyal Vice President for four years. "Donald Trump is pursuing and articulating an agenda that is at odds with the conservative agenda that we governed on during our four years. And that's why I cannot in good conscience endorse Donald Trump in this campaign."
Bill Barr, Trump’s hand-picked attorney general. Trump is like “a defiant nine-year-old kid who’s always pushing his glass towards the end of the table, defying his parents to stop him from doing it”.
James Mattis, U.S. secretary of defense January 2017- January 2019 (retired four-star general). "His use of the Presidency to destroy trust in our election and to poison our respect for fellow citizens has been enabled by pseudo political leaders whose names will live in infamy as profiles in cowardice."
John Kelly White House chief of staff first six months of Trump’s presidency (former Marine Corps general) "…a person that has no idea what America stands for and has no idea what America is all about. A person who admires autocrats and murderous dictators. A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law."
Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff October 2019 - September 2023. (Trump is a ) "wannabe dictator.” “We don't take an oath to an individual. We take an oath to the Constitution, and we take an oath to the idea that is America—and we're willing to die to protect it."
John Bolton, U.S. national security adviser April 2018 - September 2019 (prominent foreign-policy hawk). “There will be "celebrations in the Kremlin…Putin thinks that he is an easy mark." "Donald Trump wants Americans to treat him like North Koreans treat Kim Jong Un. Get ready...”
Cassidy Hutchinson, assistant to Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. "If Donald Trump is elected president again in 2024, I do fear that it will be the last election where we're voting for democracy because, if he is elected again, I don't think we'll be voting under the same Constitution."
Sarah Matthews, White House deputy press secretary June 2020 - January 2021. Trump has a history of making "unhinged comments." "…helped incite a deadly insurrection on our nation's Capitol"
Anthony Scaramucci, White House director of communications for just 10 days, July 21 - 31, 2017. "This really is going to be a battle for the democracy, this one. He's going to expand executive power. He's going to make things rougher for people. He has already said he's going after his adversaries using the Department of Justice. "When someone's telling you they're going to flex and be a dictator on day one and go after their adversaries, this is against the 200-plus-year experiment of America."
Alyssa Farah Griffin, White House director of strategic communications and assistant to the president, April- December 2020. “He walked into a room of Black journalists and it seemed like he was kind of blurting out loud what he says privately with his advisers.” “He didn’t even try to hide or mask the racism and that to me is a sign of decline,” she added. “He was asked should he take a mental acuity test. I think he should. He does not seem right. He kind of came off like your crazy great uncle that you hope doesn’t show up to the family event.”
Sources: newsweek.com, foxnews.com, the-independent.com, businessinsider.com, cnn.com, huffpost.com
