Readers React: Trump has cheated his whole adult life. He should not be president

To the editor: I have thought a lot about President Trump’s “cheating,” described so well by columnist Virginia Heffernan, and it gripes me to the core.

I have been tempted to fudge the number or expand the zone, so to speak, but my moral upbringing has always won out. My mother and father were immigrants and became citizens; they were glad to be here and believed they should do no wrong.

Trump, on the other hand, was taught early on how to manipulate the system and make money doing so. Now, cheating is an everyday thing for him, and in his life the big guy always wins and the little guy always loses. If I had done what he’s been accused of doing, I’d be in prison.

The only way we will ever be able to get it across to him how morally unfit he is to be president is to impeach or vote him out of office.

Ernie Ogren, Torrance

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To the editor: I would like to know Heffernan’s opinion of President Clinton. I really don’t see much difference between him and Trump.

True, Clinton was always more polite than seems possible for Trump, and as far as I know, he paid his taxes. Clinton has also had only one wife to cheat on, unlike Trump.

But to the best of my knowledge, Trump has never been credibly accused of rape, and oddly he seems to have been relatively open about his cheating (except for the taxes), perhaps even taking a perverse pride in it.

Otherwise Trump is effectively the Republicans’ Bill Clinton. I wonder if Trump will survive his cheating as smoothly as Clinton did.

Patrick M. Dempsey, Granada Hills

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To the editor: Heffernan misses the point. The president may be cheating on the public side, but in the private sector I have seen much worse than what he has done.

There are two standards: how to do business in the private sector, and how to make and execute policy in the executive branch. This president is crossing the line when it comes to the latter.

Those differences cannot be overlooked before you define what cheating is.

Tony Schaffer, Los Angeles

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To the editor: Most of us know Trump is a cheater. Most of us know Trump lacks a moral compass.

But where is the outrage over the fact that as far as we know, he is doing nothing to thwart Russian interference in the 2020 election?

Trump still will not admit the Russians interfered. Agreeing with our intelligence agencies would mean he knows he did not get elected fair and square.

Where is the mandate that all states must use only paper ballots in 2020? When will Trump address the nation by warning about fact checking what they see and hear on social media?

Our security and election process are in jeopardy.

Diane Welch, Cypress

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