A president for all (?)

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Donald J. Trump defied all conventional wisdom — in November he was elected, and today he will be sworn in as the 45th President of the United States.

He has pledged to be the president of all the American people. Even before taking the oath he has made moves to strengthen the economy and keep jobs in the US of A. He has made statements showing that Americans will be safer than they have been in years and that we won’t back down to any foreign power.

Those who voted for him as well as millions of other Americans are hopeful that he will be an effective president — and one for all the people. It’s clear even before he takes a seat in the Oval Office that he will certainly never be known as a do-nothing president.

However, based on Trump’s statements, along with the people he has chosen for his cabinet including Vice President-elect Mike Pence and Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions, millions — if not tens of millions of Americans — are legitimately scared.

And that should bother everyone — not only liberals, but also conservatives.

Trump, and his platform, and his nominees and their past actions and statements, have made it clear that anyone who is lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender has a target on them. And any rights and gains they may have earned are in danger of being turned back as some may attempt to shove them back in the closet.

Many African-Americans feel much the same.

So do many women. So do young people who feel rights will be stripped away.

And so do legal immigrants and children of immigrants (as well as those who aren’t).

You probably have friends or family that fit in one, if not most, of the aforementioned categories.

If so, feel free to empathize with what they’re going through and to communicate with them.

By the same measure, any minority that has a chance to speak directly with the new president should do just that — boycotting that will accomplish no good thing.

We hope that President Donald J. Trump believes, and demonstrates that, he is everyone’s president. And that he can indeed unify more than divide.

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