Trump’s words are reflection on all Americans
It is hard to imagine a less presidential statement than Donald Trump’s comments on Saturday regarding the events in Charlottesville, Va. In a time when the country looks to its elected leader to stand up against intolerance and hatred, the president let the American people down.
Donald Trump, as president, is America’s leading representative to the world. What he does and says is a reflection on all Americans.
To put it another way: “The president in all matters of business and etiquette can have no object but to demean himself in his public character, in such matter as to maintain the dignity of office, without subjecting himself to the imputation of superciliousness or unnecessary reserve.”
The author of those words was our first president, George Washington, and he wrote them in 1789 to our second president, John Adams.
Michael Degenhart,
State College
This story was originally published August 18, 2017 at 10:13 PM with the headline "Trump’s words are reflection on all Americans."