Dear family and friends who support Donald Trump:

First of all, I love you, respect you and value our friendship. This is most important — way above everything else.

Yet I don’t understand how you could possibly support Donald Trump, because he is so unlike you.

You are honest. He is not. According to David Markowitz writing in Forbes, “As of early April, Trump has told 23.3 lies per day in 2020 [and] averaged 23.8 lies per day since the first case of COVID-19 was reported in the US.”

You are trustworthy. Donald Trump is not. I can count on you to do things you say you will do. You have never turned on me.

Donald Trump is known for using people as long as they suit his purposes, then turning on them when they don’t. Look at Jeff Sessions, Michael Cohen, John Bolton and Joe Scarborough, among others. And look at all the respected people who have served in the White House, working there until they were forced out because they had the integrity to disagree with him.

You are not like that. You are loyal to your friends and family.

You are honest in your business dealings. Donald Trump is not. He uses bankruptcy as a business tool, stiffing investors, reneging on loans and refusing to pay contractors, many of which are small businesses. After his many business failures, the only bank that would lend to him was Deutsche Bank, which has been fined repeatedly for violations, including money laundering.

Further, according to FactCheck.org, “every major party candidate for president since 1980 has released tax returns during the campaign.” But not Donald Trump. What is he hiding?

You have never founded a university or set up a charity to purely serve your personal ends. Donald Trump has done both, and both were shut down by the government for fraud.

The people you keep company with, the people with whom you do business, are not criminals. Donald Trump seems to attract these types. For example: Steve Bannon, Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, Roger Stone and Rick Gates, all accused or convicted felons.

I’ve never heard you praise the autocrat Vladimir Putin. Donald Trump has done so repeatedly.

I sincerely doubt that you have cheated on your spouses. Yet Donald Trump has had numerous extra-marital affairs, and even paid off a porn star so she wouldn’t spill the beans in public.

You do not advance your personal business interests or play endless rounds of golf on the taxpayers’ dime.

You appreciate our veterans. You don’t make fun of disabled people. And you don’t denigrate others on social media.

Instead, you are honest, trustworthy, loyal and caring. You put others first. You’re not egotistical. You do not make decisions solely based on what’s best for you.

Yet Donald Trump exhibits the polar opposite of all of these qualities.

So I don’t understand. Why are you still supporting this person who is so unlike you?

Best,

Leigh

NOTE: This piece was written by Vox Verax co-editor Leigh Pomeroy. He has never sent it to his friends or family members who support Donald Trump because he doesn't want politics to get in the way of these precious relationships.