Sir, – The inclusion of an article by Maureen Dowd's brother, the Trump-loving Kevin, is either a low point in the newspaper's presentation of the truth or an indication of how far from reality some Trump followers have strayed ("A brother's lament for mercurial presidency", Opinion, World, November 30th).
From day one, this delusional president commenced a four-year pantomime of lies with his refusal to accept that the crowds for his inauguration were smaller than Barack Obama’s, when the whole world could see that the reverse was clearly the case. This has proceeded to the present where he still refuses to accept the democratic votes of the US people. On that basis alone the article is a worthless bit of nonsense but this view is reinforced by the fact that it contains not one word about Covid, which has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans, many of whom took Mr Trump’s sceptical advice on masks and social distancing.
Today we see a president who is more concerned about cultivating his image and more eager to attack the golf course than to, at the very least, show concern for those affected by the pandemic. In keeping with the headline of the article, I can say that Mr Trump was indeed lamentable. Good riddance to a loser. – Yours, etc,
KEVIN O’SULLIVAN,
Letterkenny,
Co Donegal.
Sir, – Maureen Dowd’s brother Kevin implies that “the nearly 74 million people who voted for” Donald Trump are, somehow, a monolithic group making up “half the country (that) was tired of being patronised and lied to and worse, taken for granted”.
Indeed, Kevin claims that, “a majority of Americans are not ready for the socialist agenda favoured by the radical left”.
However, if it is reasonable to lump all Trump voters together, as Kevin does, then, surely, the same applies to those people who voted for Joe Biden?
Perhaps “eliminating the filibuster and packing the supreme court” are exactly why people voted Biden/Harris? And maybe those two “major changes” are just the beginning of what the more than 80 million who voted for the Democratic presidential ticket want to see happen in the next four years? – Yours, etc,
JOE McCARTHY,
Arbour Hill,
Dublin 7.
Sir, – Thank you, Maureen Dowd, for sending us your brother Kevin’s view of Donald Trump. Fair play to you for letting us have an alternative to the negative view of Mr Trump usually found here in Ireland.
Media outlets should always present both sides of an issue. Unfortunately, Ireland’s view of Mr Trump was filtered, leaving behind any recognition of his many accomplishments. – Yours, etc,
KATHLEEN
KELLEHER,
Greystones,
Co Wicklow.