No, Trump does not have a ‘mandate’

One of the frequently used (abused?) statements by Republicans to justify the shredding of our constitution and legitimate oversight, among other things, is that the American voters overwhelmingly voted for Trump and he has a mandate, etc., etc., blah, blah, or some derivation attempting to imply the same thing. Since they are referencing people, we can set aside the Electoral College results and look directly at what they want you to believe. And again with Trump and his supporters, let's call it what it is: another in a long list of lies. The popular vote was:

Trump — 77,302,580 votes 49.8%

Harris — 75,017,613 votes 48.32%

Others — 2,918,109 votes 1.8%

More votes were cast for someone other than Trump. He couldn't even get a simple majority.

I do agree the American people clearly made a statement. The statement is that more of us don't support him than do. Sadly, none of it matters at this point. I understand the desire to cast a protest vote or simply not vote because you don't like either option. I too would love to see a ballot with more choices. But until we get there, you might have to hold your nose and vote for the best available option. Hopefully we'll still be able to do that in the future … which is not necessarily a given at this point considering the blind cultish obedience of the few people that have the ability to stop, or at least reign in, the carnage.

Jim White

Marion