I am afraid for the future of our country. Despite the fact that approximately 100 million people watched the first Clinton/Trump debate, polls show Trump only a few percentage points behind Clinton. How can that be?

Are the pundits right that most voters only hear what they want? Apparently Trump supporters turned off their TVs (and ignored a couple of decades of bad news about Trump). They appear to have missed:

• His statement that he didn’t pay income tax because he is smart (unlike the rest of us who are stupid?) and then 20 minutes after the debate said he did not say that.

• His response that he stiffed hundreds of little guys legally because the law let him.

• He continued to claim President Obama was not a citizen for years after we all saw his birth certificate.

• He didn’t say his housing did not discriminate; he negotiated a settlement without an admission of guilt.

• He wants to sell our defense of the free world (if you can’t pay we won’t defend you).

• He gets up early to call a young woman names.

• His “university” is a sham, bilking thousands of students.

• His charity’s primary recipient is himself.

• He’s going to bring back all the jobs the Chinese stole, but all his production companies are overseas.

Is Trump the example we want our children to follow? Do we really want a president who thinks it’s OK to ridicule people with disabilities? Do we really want to hand our democracy to a man who thinks his bad behavior makes him great?

I hope the future of our country does not become his next “deal.”

Dean Crocker

Estero, Florida, and Manchester