To the editor:

What do Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, and Ronald Reagan have in common? They are all Republicans. They are former presidents. (They were pretty good presidents.) Does Donald Trump belong among them? I don’t think so. Actually, Trump wasn’t even a Republican until 1987, and he flip-flopped back and forth a few times. Maybe we should compare the Donald to his predecessors.

Did Reagan use his presidency as a platform to swell his bank accounts? No, but from the White House Trump has sold MAGA caps, Trump coins and tennis shoes. Did Eisenhower’s dad finagle a military deferment for him? It’s hard to imagine someone who led the Normandy Invasion complaining about sore feet.

Did Honest Abe cheat at anything? Trump, on the other hand, cheats on everything from marriage vows to golf. Did Reagan tell the Nobel committee that he deserved a Peace Prize? Reagan ended the Cold War. Donald has said he ended six wars in the last six months. Did Roosevelt tell thousands of lies to burnish his image? Roosevelt’s life didn’t need any hyperbole. Trump’s lies are legendary.

Did LincoIn accept a multimillion dollar gift from a foreign country? Well, Lincoln’s face is on the five dollar bill. The jet from Qatar is worth $400 million before retrofitting. Did Ike meet Mamie at the Kit Kat Club? The Kit Kat Club hasn’t been open that long, but Mamie would never have gone to such a place. Did Roosevelt tell the media that he was a war hero? Roosevelt actually was a hero in the Spanish-American War. The only war Trump fought was one against venereal disease. Did Lincoln or Roosevelt or Eisenhower or Reagan have a friend as disgusting as Jeffrey Epstein?

I can understand if a voter prefers a candidate who is a fiscal conservative or a candidate who interprets the Constitution strictly or a candidate who avoids war, but l cannot understand how anyone can support Donald Trump.

Lowell Zellmann

New Ulm