‘A Simple Plumber’ Seeks a G.O.P. Statesman

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/18/opinion/plumber-trump.html

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To the Editor:

I am just a simple plumber. I never went to college. I started working when I was 16. Now, at 71, I am retired.

I am white, a father of two and a grandfather of three. At first glance, I would fit the mold of a supporter of President Trump. He loves the uneducated. He is a fan of tradesmen, even though he has a record of not paying them. I have a nice house in a nice neighborhood, and we know that Donald Trump likes nice neighborhoods.

However, I wouldn’t stand and applaud this president. I have too much respect for my wife and daughter and two granddaughters. I went to the Women’s March in Washington.

So Mr. Trump, on second glance, would call me un-American or a traitor, as he does to many citizens who don’t support his view of our country.

I am looking for a true leader. A statesman in the Republican Party. Maybe Paul Ryan or Mike Pence will wipe the frozen smile away and stop looking at Mr. Trump while he speaks as if they were listening to some great prophet. We know they are thinking about lunch, or whether the next season of “Homeland” will be as good as the last. We know they are not really caught up in the president’s self-aggrandizing blather.

There are quite a number of us out here, the great unwashed, who want someone in the Trump rank and file to stand up and shout: “Stop! That’s enough!” Some Republican to find a backbone and leave the lemming line long enough to go down in history as a statesman.

Please. It can’t be that difficult. Trust me, your fellow Americans will not call you a traitor.

But what do I know? I’m just a simple plumber.

RICHARD DONELLY, PROVIDENCE, R.I.