Dear Mr. President-Elect,

Well, you officially pulled it off. When you first announced you were running for the presidency, I laughed at the thought of you becoming our 45th. I didn’t think you had a prayer of competing with Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and John Kasich in the primaries, but you proved me wrong. I went into Tuesday morning truly believing that I would be watching a landslide victory for Hillary Clinton, but you again proved me wrong.

This isn’t another article that talks about how doomed we are as a country and how disappointed I am in this election. I think I have heard enough of the doom and gloom crap. This election is over and many people are upset, but I think we have reached a time where we all need to relax and figure out how to live with you for the next four years.

However, I’m not going to hide my true feelings. I will be honest and frank with you for a second. I think you’re disgusting.

You have said some repulsive things throughout the election cycle. You have dehumanized illegal immigrants. You put all Muslims into one huge basket labeled “extreme Islamic terrorists.” You publicly mocked a reporter with a disability. You bragged about your sickening advances on a woman and dismissed it as “locker-room” talk. You chose a running mate who has repeatedly created legislation to terrorize members of the LGBTQ+ community.

You, sir, are a bully. I have been telling people since day one that we should not elect you. Others reading this may recall my articlefrom a few weeks ago that urged voters to walk away from you. Following last Tuesday’s results, many of my friends are terrified to live in this country. I am going to try my hardest to reassure them that we will be okay, but I honestly do not know if that is true.

With that said, I want you to know something. As much as it pains me to say this, I plan on giving you a chance. After all, you are going to be my next president and it is my obligation as an informed citizen to support my leader.

Nevertheless, I can’t forget all you have done and all you have said over the last year (and your lifetime for that matter). Therefore, I will refrain from criticizing you for a full year, starting today and ending on the day of your first State of the Union Address. Within that year, I will observe your policy changes and reflect on them as fairly as possible. I will also be noting your temperament and your off-hand comments, as I am hoping to see improvement on that end.

I just want you to know that, as much as I despise you, I plan on giving you time to prove yourself. President Obama didn’t receive the same kindness from Republicans when he was elected. At the very least I want to take the high road and give you a chance to be successful. As the wise Bernie Sanders once said, “love trumps hate.” I certainly don’t love you (that will never happen), but I refuse to be one of the people that spends the next four years hating you. There will be enough of them as it is.

I personally don’t want to see another four years where all we do is criticize and complain. We have a Republican president with a Republican-controlled Senate and House of Representatives. Most of my friends would prefer to see the tables turned on this situation, but I am excited to see what this Congress can do without deadlock for once. This is the first time since the 1920s where we will have a Republican-controlled government. I think that I speak volumes when I say that I, a liberal, millennial college student, am interested in what can be accomplished.

I know what you, and others reading this article, must be thinking: it does not matter what this liberal, 20-year-old college kid thinks about you. My whole point is that we need to try supporting you, no matter our political differences. I voted for Jill Stein and her extremely liberal platform, and yet I can still look past my own biases to give you a chance. There is nothing stopping my friends and fellow college students from doing the same thing.

I still believe that you are bad for us. I still believe you are a bully. I still believe you should not have been elected, let alone allowed to run after your scandals and remarks. Unfortunately, it is what it is.

Show me what you can do, Mr. Trump. Prove me wrong.

Sincerely,

Aaron DeLoria
Cazenovia College
Cazenovia, N.Y.