An Open Letter to Our Next President, Donald J. Trump
Dear President-elect Trump,
Congratulations on your victory. I’m going to keep this letter short and to the point. I am a Hillary supporter. And like many of my peers, I was incredibly disappointed in the outcome of the election (especially considering Hillary won the popular vote 47.7%-47.5%… time to kill the Electoral College?) But I woke up this morning and the world hadn’t ended. Life goes on.
On January 20, 2017, you will be sworn in as my President. As our President. I watched your victory speech, and I’ll be honest, I was surprised. I expected you to rub it in, and then threaten to jail Hillary and deport Obama, or something else along those lines. You did the opposite. You were gracious in victory, and you were reasonable in the vision you laid out for the country. You said you would be a President for ALL Americans. You thanked Hillary for the campaign she ran, and you assured all Hillary supporters that you would listen to us. That you would bring us into the national conversation. That you would keep us in mind.
Honor that promise. Sit down at the negotiating table with us, and let’s have an open and honest discussion about our differences. Let’s find common ground. Let’s hammer out compromises. Let’s make a deal. I believe you’re a man we can do business with. Seeing as we are the losers, we are obviously in no position to make demands. But we do have a few requests:
- Please do not tear Obamacare apart. 20 million people will lose their coverage, along with a whole host of other consequences. Obamacare is definitely flawed. I, more than anyone, acknowledge that. But let’s work together to try and fix it, to make it better, rather than simply repealing it and replacing it with [insert nonexistent GOP proposal here].
- Please preserve the Dodd-Frank Wall Street regulations. Wall Street CANNOT be allowed to have free rein over our economy again. They CANNOT be allowed to hold the nation hostage again. At the beginning of your campaign, way back during summer 2015, you railed against the Wall Street elite. Wall Street is part of the very establishment that you pledged to tear down. So please, please, please do NOT repeal Dodd-Frank. Instead, work with us to strengthen the regulations. Work with us to rein in Wall Street. Your supporters would probably be happy with that, too. After all, they hate Wall Street just as much as anyone.
- Please appoint moderates to the Supreme Court. If you appoint conservatives, then abortion rights are in huge trouble, among other things. You once said you were pro-choice. I can’t tell if you’re actually pro-life now, or if you just said that to lock in the evangelical vote. I’d like to believe the latter.
- Please honor the Paris Climate Deal. As Ken Bone’s debate question implied, there IS a way to meet our energy needs while remaining environmentally friendly, but also minimizing fossil fuel job losses. Green energy is the way of the future. You know it, I know it, everyone knows it. Please embrace green energy. Please don’t withdraw from the Paris deal. If you do, then the whole international agreement will fall apart.
- Please do not unilaterally withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal. If you do that, Iran WILL build nukes. You’ve said that you want to go in and re-negotiate for a better deal. I pray to god that you succeed.
- Please don’t enact protectionist import tariffs. That would kill our international trade and tank the economy. Tariffs don’t work, period. Please don’t do it, man. Just don’t.
- Please institute a humane immigration policy. Don’t create a deportation force. Don’t break up immigrant families. If you’re going to deport illegals, make sure that you deport criminals only. The vast majority of illegals live and work peacefully in this country. Treat them well, because they are human beings just like you.
This is by no means a complete list, and I encourage other Hillary supporters to add to it. But this is all I can think of off the top of my head right now.
That’s it. That’s all I have to say. Keep Hillary supporters in mind when you become President. Remember, Hillary beat you in the popular vote, meaning we outnumber your supporters. Please don’t forget about us. Please don’t ignore us. Please don’t shut us out. Because if you do, you’ll regret it in 2020.
From,
The 47.7% of the country that voted for Hillary