To the Editor:

It is always amusing to hear supporters of President Trump claim that others are uninformed and vicious. Talk about vicious!

I have never before seen a president attack disabled people, a senator suffering from terminal cancer, a gold star family who lost their only son in combat, or the type of vicious name calling during and after the campaign.

The first two paragraphs of the letter on August 1 had no fewer than six erroneous assertions along with a few questionable ones. Kim Jon Un is not dismantling his nuclear arsenal — he has all of his nuclear weapons. According to recent evidence, they are continuing building missiles and expanding their nuclear arsenal. North Korea got international recognition and persuaded Trump to cancel joint military exercises. All Trump got was a small box that supposedly had remains of servicemen, but in the past such boxes also had bones of pigs in addition to some human remains.

The writer asserts that trade deficits are being corrected, but to date no such thing has happened. Some of our deficits continue to grow while some of our companies are moving production to other countries as a result of Trump tariffs or his unpredictability and others are reconsidering building here. Prices to consumers will rise because they — not countries — actually pay the tariffs like taxes. There is no sign of any significant “manufacturing coming back to us” as the writer claims. Just because they might say that on Fox News does not make it a fact. Talk about fake news.

Another assertion is that there is “greater respect for America around the globe.” There is no evidence for this! As one who is in contact with people in other countries, I can assure you that there is no improvement in respect — quite the contrary. People used to say that they like Americans even though they didn’t necessarily like the policies of the president at the time. But now people are starting to say they don’t like Americans because of what they see as our values exemplified by the president.

The writer says taxes are down. Yes, taxes are down if you are rich or making a lot of money, but the rest of us see very little, if any, benefit from the Trump Tax Cut. Unemployment is down, but that does not mean people have a livable income. Wages are so low that many, including teachers, have to take second jobs to make ends meet. The corporations that got huge tax breaks are paying executives and shareholders, but not passing much, if anything, to workers.

Finally, the writer complains that Democrats block everything because it is a Trump idea. May I remind her that ObamaCare was originally a Republican concept? As soon as Obama accepted the plan, every Republican — including Trump — was against it. By the way, ACA premiums are going up in part because Trump is sabotaging ObamaCare. A few cities are suing Trump about this. Most people who object to Trump’s proposals, like the wall and trade wars, do so because the ideas are bad, unrealistic, or ill advised — not because they come from Trump.

Norman Hoffman

Waynesville