I often ask myself the question, “Why do so few call out Donald Trump as a malignant bigot?” Here in Maine, a lot of the recent attack lines against Graham Platner is that he is a bigot, though I find it hard to show he’s recently been bigoted (except maybe by referring to John Fetterman as an a**hole, which does bother me).  

A bigot is defined as a person who is stubbornly devoted to their own opinions, prejudices or group affiliations, and is aggressively intolerant to those who differ. Bigot is used most often to characterize bias toward others based on race, religion, gender or sexual orientation, and that does describe the president (e.g., his support for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth cutting women and Blacks from the military promotion list, his harangue against Somali Muslims),  but the broader definition certainly fits as well. And this bigoted behavior is very harmful to our society and the individuals singled out.  

Why can’t, or won’t, more people call out Donald Trump?

June Lacke
Westbrook