Letter best: President needs to represent all Americans, not just his base

Mr. President,

I am so tired of you disparaging those with whom you’re unpopular for the sake of being praised by your base. You’re supposed to be the president of all Americans. Retweeting an anti-Muslim video from a fear-mongering U.K. political party does nothing to bring us together. It only reinforces the stereotypes and ethnocentrism your predecessors worked to diminish.

Just as my faith was misrepresented by the media’s focus on the God Hates (Gays) movement when I was growing up, you misrepresent the Islamic faith of your constituents — people who you were elected to represent.

Here’s an example of your Muslim constituency:

A refugee fled Iraq with his family after he lost his baby boy and right leg in a bomb blast. After going through multiple security checks, he was resettled in my community, where he met both opportunity and hardship. He struggled to cover his high medical costs and provide for his family.

My local newspaper ran an article about him and my community responded by raising money to buy him a prosthetic leg. He’s now an American citizen. Tweet about examples like him and communities like ours. Start acting like the president all Americans can get behind.

This story was originally published December 9, 2017 at 2:22 PM with the headline "Letter best: President needs to represent all Americans, not just his base."