Trump too divisive to be US president

The United States presidential election has gained the attention of many across the globe and has occupied a lot of time and space on various media including social media, where some of the rant was aggressive, even resorting to foul language and accusing Jews who don’t support Donald Trump of being un-Jewish.

Many Jewish radio listeners also seemed to have supported a second term for Trump to the point that the host of the (ChaiFM) morning show exclaimed that he thought that he was the only one who favoured Joe Biden to be the next US president-elect.

I wrote to the station to say, “Although I’m very grateful to Trump for moving the US embassy to Jerusalem and for whatever role he played in the recent peace agreements in the Middle East, I’m looking at the environment that has emerged in the US since Trump took office, in addition to his lying and lack of responsible leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic. People who don’t live in the US are [probably] looking at his international accomplishments and not the domestic issues that directly affect Americans.”

This sentiment is reiterated in a recent article in the SA Jewish Report, “Toilet paper and trepidation: an unusually tense US election”, (6 November 2020). As a candidate, Trump has garnered more intense emotion than any other in recent history. He is an extremely polarising and divisive figure, and there is hostility between those who support him and those who don’t. Is this contentious character really fit to continue to lead the US?