Dear Donald Trump,

I suppose I should call you Mr. President now, as that will be your title all too soon, but I typically reserve such a title for people I find respectable. "Mr. President" suggests that you represent our country and all the people within the country. All. Of. Them. "Mr. President" suggests that the majority of our population voted for you to lead us. "Mr. President" suggests that you are a politician worthy of holding such a grand title.

But none of these things are true.

I keep asking myself how we ended up here. For over a year now, I've looked at your presidential campaign like a complete joke. I was shocked to learn that you were even running for president. I remember saying, "He'll never make it to nomination." Everyone else I spoke with looked at you like a joke, and when I started noticing actual supporters in the midst, I kinda looked at them as a joke, too. I thought maybe they were supporting you to be ironic, you know? It seemed to me that any logical person wouldn't ever want you in office.

I remember when you were nominated, I said, "There's no way he can win this election."

And yet here we are.

Now, as far as your supporters, I'm a little bit confused. I don't want them to feel hated. I don't. I understand that many of your voters voted for you because of your policies. You gave them an answer to their fears, and you made them feel like you were the "anti-government" candidate that would cut taxes and let you keep your guns.

Except that in giving them an answer to your fears, you spouted anti-Muslim rhetoric, told millions of immigrants- many of which are completely harmless- that they don't belong here when they just want to make a better life for themselves, and told women that their bodies are not in their control. Additionally, you seem to think that women are just here for your own sexual pleasure, that you can, as you put, "grab them by the pussy" whenever you want. Then you chose Mike Pence as your vice president, who actually believes that conversion therapy will cure LGBTQ+ people, as if we need to be cured.

What I don't understand is why your supporters are able to overlook such statements. How is it that this many Americans think it's okay to sexually assault women, think all Muslims are terrorists, want immigrants to leave the country instead of making it easier for them to get here legally, and want to take away a woman's right to have an abortion if she is not in a financial or emotional state to have a child? It's appalling to me.

I'm mad, Donald. I'm mad that we live in a society where your white, straight, cisgender, male supporters don't give a s**t about the people you toss aside because no one ever told them to. I'm mad that the women who supported you don't see your sexist statements as an issue because that's all they've ever known, because degradation, assault, and inequality are normal for them. I'm mad that LGBTQ+ people aren't seen as equal in the eyes of your supporters because you think that a God who is supposed to be all-loving says we're a problem. I'm mad that you made fun of a disabled person and millions of people don't seem to care. I'm mad that education has failed.

When I was a child, before I knew about the true horrors of this country, I was grateful to live in a place where women were respected, where people were financially stable, and where racism was dead. Now, at 18 years old, you are elected, and I realize the opposite is true.

Now, let me be clear; I am no lover of Hillary Clinton. My millennial-self wanted Bernie Sanders to be our next president so bad. Hillary Clinton has been discovered to be a liar and she is no liberal. However, at least she's not you. At least she's not a bigoted asshole.

However, what's done is done. You were voted as the next President of the United States. You will be sworn in to office in January, and you will hold an immense amount of power beside the Republican dominated House, Senate, and Supreme Court. People have been protesting, and while there are many arguments about whether or not that's helpful, speaking about displeasure is better than stewing in displeasure.

Not to mention that your beloved Republican party protested when Obama was elected.

Oh, also, I know for a fact that your supporters would have protested if Clinton won. You said yourself that you were going to refuse to accept the election results. You probably would've led the protests yourself.

Anyways, Donald, here's my point: please prove me wrong.

It's already looking like a lot of what you said was just for your campaign. I mean, you're going to keep aspects of ObamaCare? After all the things you said? Plus, you held up an LGBTQ+ flag the other day, which I'm sure made Pence's blood boil. So maybe you're not the person we think you are. Maybe you won't actually act like a terrible person now that you got what you wanted. Maybe you'll actually be the president of all the people, not just the white, cisgender, straight, males.

If this is not the case, if you are actually the person you come across to be, Donald, just know this: your election has made us stronger than ever before. We are all the more motivated to stand together against your hatred. We are all the more motivated to ensure that love will overcome. Mark my words- this country will have equality one day. One day, justice will win. If the election results and four years of misery is what it takes for us to stand together, then so be it.

Donald, your presidency is not going to make America great again. What will make America great some day is when not a single group of people is marginalized. Whatever state of America you're trying to return to is not the America we need. We need to move forward, and we will, with or without you.

Yours truly,

Hailey Murphy