Dear President Trump,

I wonder if Leslie Stahl needed to take a shower after her ‘60 Minutes’ interview with you. My bet is she needed some a way to get your ick off her; if she couldn’t take a shower, maybe she managed a sage smudge. I generally avoid exposing myself to tape of you for this reason, but today I made myself find the clip of her questions to you about the Mississippi rally where you mocked Dr. Ford. I hope that clip gets worn out from being replayed over and over and over. Where you told the truth, it was damning, and where you lied and glossed, it was so painfully obvious that a first grader would be able to call you out.

Although you definitely lied when you claimed you didn’t mock Dr. Ford with your sing-song litany of extraneous assault details she can’t remember, when you said that your side would not have won had you not made that speech, I think you were telling the truth. When Stahl pushed you on the laughs you got from the audience and how that mirrored what Ford said was the worst part of the assault for her, you shrugged it off saying the crowd was free to do what it wanted. You then astonishingly said Ford was treated with great respect but in the next breath gloated that you were able to fire up your base for the midterms with that speech. Stahl, bless her, persisted nevertheless, and pointed out that you were saying Ford lied. There it was. And what did you do? This part isn’t directly quoted in the text write-ups I saw, but you quickly blurted out that you didn’t want to get into all that, brushing it off as so much inconsequential detritus. The text reports, do however, quote you saying that it doesn’t matter because you won. And there was that too. It didn’t matter that you mocked and called Dr. Ford a liar because you managed to win. You used the sleaziest of tactics and you won, which in the end, is all you care about.

We need to remember this and we need to use it well. We’ve known from Day 1 that you operate this way, but you are on tape saying that the ends justified the means, that throwing Dr. Ford under the bus was a smart move because it got you the seat you wanted and has your base fired up. You are some kind of sick.

May we the people be safe from leaders who use nefarious means to obtain their desired ends.
May we the people be happy to vote such crooks out of office.
May we the people choose integrity over showboating.
May we the people prioritize respect and peace over tribalism.

Sincerely,
Tracy Simpson