He Hasn't Stepped Foot in the Oval Office Yet -- But the Potshots are Already Flying

Maybe we should calm down -- at least for now.

Despite what some on the hard right might think because I’ve been a frequent critic of Donald Trump, I’m a conservative — the kind who wants lower taxes and smaller government. Pointing out Trump’s many flaws doesn’t make me a “liberal hack” — no matter what his MAGA fans think.

The reason I have taken on Donald Trump is because his character, his chronic dishonesty, his crudeness, and his vulgarity all convinced me that he wasn’t fit to hold the highest office in the land. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: being president requires more than policies and promises. It requires dignity and decency—two things Trump has never mastered.

Take his Thanksgiving Day message last week. He took to Truth Social to say: "Happy Thanksgiving to all, including to the Radical Left Lunatics who have worked so hard to destroy our Country ….”

Really? Was that the message a man who soon will be president (again) should send to the American people — and on Thanksgiving Day no less? Is that a message that unifies or divides an already deeply divided nation? We know the answers — and they don’t make Donald Trump look good.

But here we are. Trump has just been reelected, and while I still have my reservations, I’m willing to keep an open mind. Maybe — despite his nasty Thanksgiving message — he’ll prove me wrong this time. Maybe he’ll focus on governing instead of taking to social media to hurl insults at anyone who has a bad word to say about him; maybe he’ll stop cooking up nicknames for his enemies. Maybe, just maybe, he’ll finally act like a president instead of a reality TV star.