Ivan White

Most people outside of MAGA consider Katie Couric a thoughtful and fair journalist. Here’s her letter to President Trump that lists the reasons she opposes him. Please share - 1. Your rhetoric - whether it’s sexualizing supporters or demonizing opponents – is disgusting. For someone who ran on “draining the swamp,” you’ve created a horror show of insults and trash talking that feels more fitting for a fourth grader than the president. Your treatment of the press is despicable, especially how you address women. When you’re asked a question you don’t like, you resort to your tired mantra of “fake news.” Your banishing of credible journalists from the Pentagon and White House undermines the First Amendment. 2. Your immigration policy has gone way too far. ICE agents rounding up undocumented people, separating them from their families, tossing them in crowded prisons, and deporting some to places where they risk violence or death is inhuman. Few object to your desire to deport violent criminals or your efforts to secure the border. (Most people agree that Biden failed in the latter department.) But deporting people who have been here for years, have had children here, have built lives, and are doing work that’s critical to our economy makes no sense. ICE scaled up quickly with inadequate vetting and insufficient training.. 3. You are weaponizing the Justice Department in ways I didn’t think possible. Attorney General Todd Blanche is operating as your personal attorney rather than the chief law enforcement officer of the US and uses his position for your obsessive retribution campaign. From the hubbub over James Comey’s seashell-based Instagram post or this latest investigation (the third time the justice department has attempted to bring criminal charges against him) to pursuing Letitia James over mortgage-fraud allegations that career prosecutors found insufficient to support charges, the DOJ is a shell of its former self. 4. Next is your corruption that happens so fast it makes my head spin. Reuters estimates that your family has made at least $2.3 billion from cryptocurrency ventures on top of other business interests. There’s a word for this: cronyocracy - a government in which power, appointments, and opportunities (not to mention big bucks) are distributed to friends, loyalists, and political allies rather than on merit. But perhaps even more fitting is kleptocracy - a government whose leaders exploit political power to enrich themselves. 5. Let’s not forget about the war in Iran, which contradicts your campaign rhetoric that “I’m not going to start a war, I’m going to stop wars.” Despite warnings from military experts about what would happen, you bulldozed your way into a war with Iran that has cost the Pentagon an estimated $38 billion, according to a Congressional Budget Office report. Disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz - a risk you were warned about - have sent gas prices soaring. Negotiations are going nowhere fast and our country won’t be in a better position than it was before this war of choice. 6. Speaking of wars - what’s with the love affair with Putin? Russia invaded Ukraine yet you repeatedly shift blame onto Ukraine. Experts I speak with say you admire strongmen and want to be one yourself. Your treatment of Zelensky - berating him at the White House, having others suggest he should grovel more - is shameful. Your alienating so many of our NATO allies neuters NATO and you’ve sown distrust and cast doubt on our country’s commitment to Article 5: An armed attack on one member is considered an attack on all. 7. Can we talk tariffs? Why in the world would you want to pick a fight with our neighbors to the north? Your global tariffs have pushed prices higher and strained vital trading relationships. Your off-again, on-again policies have made it extremely tough for businesses to plan their futures and though manufacturing jobs have gained some ground, continued.....