Trump’s inauguration: A chance for new beginning

In the wake of the highly contentious presidential election, we had hoped for a change in attitude from the winner, Republican Donald Trump. Unfortunately, the past 72 days have left us disappointed and in despair.

Rather than chart a course to unify the deeply divided nation and reassure those who did not vote for him that he would be president of all Americans, Trump clung to his divisive rhetoric.

He lashed out at his perceived enemies, including the press, and shrugged off the concerns of women, members of the LGBT community, the disabled, minorities and immigrants.

Trump’s divide-and-conquer strategy enabled him to win the Republican primary against all odds – he outlasted 16 other contenders – and to defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Since the Nov. 8 general election, the billionaire businessman from New York who has never held public office has claimed a mandate from the voters.

However, the reality is that while he garnered 306 of the 538 electoral votes, Clinton, former U.S. secretary of state, U.S. senator and first lady, captured the popular vote by 2.9 million votes.

But that isn’t the only reason Trump’s presidency is being viewed with such trepidation. His mostly white male nominees for Cabinet positions do not reflect the diversity that has made America the envy of the world.

Thus, when Trump, the billionaire with business interests around the world, is sworn in Friday as the 45th president of the United States, we would hope he recognizes that governance by Twitter is not an option.

To be sure, he has millions of followers who eagerly await his late-night 120-character broadsides against those who have rubbed him the wrong way.

But, the serious business of leading the world’s lone superpower requires a serious individual in the Oval Office.

Foundation

Trump’s inaugural address tomorrow will lay the foundation of his presidency for the next four years.

Readers of The Vindicator’s editorials will know that we did not support Trump in last year’s election because we found him to be unfit temperamentally for the job of president.

Here’s what we said about him when we endorsed Clinton with “much apprehension”:

“Trump is a self-absorbed rich man whose attitude toward women, minorities, the disabled and the press makes him clearly unqualified to be the leader of the greatest country on earth. He lacks the temperament, the vision and the understanding of the role the president plays in domestic and international affairs. He does not possess the steady hand of leadership that is demanded in times of upheaval and uncertainty.”

We were hoping to be proved wrong in the weeks between the general election and the inauguration. But rather than abandon his campaign persona in favor of a newly minted president-elect, Trump refused to abandon his old ways.

And while he continues to insist that he has no intention of changing, polls show that the American people are not impressed with his behavior.

Trump will be sworn in with historically low approval ratings, but he has dismissed the polls as unreliable.

Nonetheless, the average of five surveys shows that 41 percent of Americans approve the way Trump has handled his transition and his duties as president-elect, while 52 percent disapprove.

We would hope that when he addresses the American people tomorrow, the 45th president delivers a message of healing and unity, that he reaches out to those who are worried about the next four years, and reminds his supporters that hatred and violence have no place in a democracy founded on inclusion.

Trump must know that historians will closely study his inaugural address to determine if it was inspirational, aspirational or merely a rehash of his campaign rhetoric that created today’s divisions along racial, sexual and religious lines.

Trump must also deliver a clear repudiation of Russia for meddling in this country’s election.

U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin and others in the Kremlin orchestrated the email-hacking campaign to swing the election in Trump’s favor.

The president-elect finally conceded that he believed Russia was responsible for the hacking, but he has refused to point the finger of blame at Putin.

That’s a mistake he should correct in his address tomorrow.