Immigrant comments
Former President Donald Trump’s accusation that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country” is outrageous. Trump’s words give cover to antisemitic and white supremacist extremists. For example, people in the Charlottesville torch-light parade shouting, “Jews will not replace us,” were not good people. The men who gunned down African American or Hispanic supermarket shoppers in Buffalo, New York, and El Paso, Texas, were not good people. They were fueled by racist hate; they are the opposite of all the good this country stands for.
Trump, if you talk about the blood of immigrants, talk about Romanian-Jewish immigrant Liviu Librescu who survived the Holocaust only to be killed at Virginia Tech. Professor Librescu, a scientist and engineer, used his body to barricade his classroom door to give students time to jump out of windows. If you want to talk about immigrants’ blood, Trump, talk about immigrants who have given their lives in our military to protect this country and its citizens.
Trump, I doubt you know or care about the Virginia Tech massacre. Because of the diverse religious and ethnic backgrounds of the 32 victims at Virginia Tech, funeral services were held in the following faiths: Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism and Islam.
Your words encourage violence — but then you know that. It is violence tearing our nation apart, and you know that as well.
Dave Cariens, Irvington
An insurrection
Re “Jan. 6 was a protest and riot — not an insurrection” (Other Views, Jan. 5): Chris Talgo insisted that Jan. 6 was a protest and a riot, not an insurrection.
Photos and videos do not lie and prove that it was an insurrection. Take one photo of three rioters wearing sweatshirts that read, “MAGA Civil War January 6, 2021.” And didn’t Talgo see thousands of videos depicting such unimaginable violence, “Hang Mike Pence” chants and worst of all, a gallows? This was an insurrection. Maybe a better dictionary will help clarify the severity of Jan. 6.
Bainy Cyrus, Norfolk
Why support him?
Re “Foreign nationals paid Trump $7.8M” (Jan. 5): We learned how former President Donald Trump through his businesses earned revenue to the tune of $7.8 million from foreign governments while he was president, which may have violated the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution.
A few more facts. The very day that Trump dined with China’s president, Xi Jinping, in April 2017, China gave “Ivanka Trump’s brand provisional approval for three new trademarks” to sell her goods, according to qz.com.
Did we forget the Trump Tower Moscow? I believe his business interests and his coziness with Russian President Vladimir Putin could have had an impact on his policy toward Ukraine. Is the Russia-Ukraine War, now almost two years old, a coincidence?
Now the U.S. Supreme Court will hear Trump’s appeal of the Colorado ruling to remove him from the ballot under 14th Amendment to the Constitution for inciting an insurrection. We’ve had the third anniversary of the Trump-inspired mob’s attack on the Capitol.
Not enough? What about the “classified documents case” with his, at best, cavalier attitude about highly important documents? Have his followers gone mad?
George DeRise, Newport News
On the ballot
Re “Why efforts to remove Trump from Virginia’s primary ballot failed” (Jan. 5): The two people trying to remove former President Donald Trump from ballot do not have any reason to have Trump removed.
Trump has not been found guilty of any insurrection, but so many Democrats and others want him removed from the ballot. They are afraid for him to get back into office. He was great for the country the first time, and this time the Democrats know he will clean house.
Georgiann Allen, Virginia Beach