To the Journal editor:

Donald Trump has never been mistaken for a person who cares about other people. The stories of those hurt by him are legion.

As he approaches the November election with most polls showing him behind his challenger, he is reaching deep into his bag of dirty tricks and pulling out a new deception, one I think could be his most cynical.

The pandemic was not Trump’s fault. Such an event would challenge the leader of any country. Nonetheless, our president has failed to adequately respond to it and the result is tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths.

These are deaths of negligence and incompetence–the deaths of people because the president did not act. In his new campaign strategy, Donald Trump is putting more lives at risk, but this time as a result of what he is doing, not by inaction.

Throughout his political career, Trump has stoked division and grievance. He has encouraged Americans to view people with competing views and policies as enemies, rather than fellow citizens and neighbors who happen to disagree. It has affected not only his base, but also people who oppose Donald Trump and his acolytes.

Recently, this division has escalated to confrontation and violence, and in a few tragic instances, to death. Rather than trying to calm tensions, Trump throws gas on this fire by dismissing the legitimate concerns of demonstrators and proclaiming that the unrest is caused by weak Democratic mayors and governors.

He refers to protestors as thugs and their opponents as patriots. In his law and order tweets, he indicates that he alone is capable of correcting the problem. This is similar to a fireman putting a match to local buildings and then promising to extinguish the flames.

Creating fear is a powerful way to persuade people and that is why I worry it might be effective, even though Trump is more the cause than the solution. The way to get this country back on track is by striving for unity, not division.

And the only way that will happen is to rid ourselves of the instigator-in-chief and his silent Republican enablers (I’m talking about you, Jack Bergman).

Nov. 3 is our opportunity. Please make sure you vote and if you vote by mail, vote early.