To the editor:

I’m worried about the Donald.

I’m a senior citizen and never in my long participation in our political system have I ever been viscerally frightened of a presidential candidate — until now.

It blows my mind that, according to a recent poll, Donald Trump was rated more trustworthy than Hillary Clinton. Mr. Trump launched his political career based on the deplorable “birtherism,” etc. lies about President Obama.

Early in his campaign he put forth dangerous lies about throngs of Moslems holding a mass celebration after the twin towers were destroyed on 9/11 and 3,000 of our citizens lost their lives. Even though he insists that thousands of Muslims were involved in this “celebration,” he is one of the very few who have claimed to have witnessed its occurrence; the local media and law enforcement have not supported his assertion.

If you google “Trump + lies,” you’ll find substantial material on his lying ways.

For example, Politico Magazine fact-checked 4.6 hours-worth of his campaign stump speeches and found that he lied, on average, once every five minutes by stating mischaracterizations, exaggerations or out-right untruths.

One of my most memorable college academic experiences occurred during a class on modern European history. At the start of class, the professor announced that he planned to give the entire class a five-credit hour ‘A’ regardless of the grade we actually earned.

This, he explained, was his way of protesting against the current grading system at the university, which he opposed.

I instantly flashed on the huge pile of books I would no longer need to cram through for the final exam; my life had suddenly become a whole lot easier. I felt glad and grateful and relieved.

Then the professor laid down his punch line. He explained that he had just demonstrated the Hitlerian technique he called “The Big Lie.” If you want people to follow you, you tell them what they want to hear, regardless of the truth or your true agenda. You could even add that they’re superior, and their problems are the fault of other social groups who have been receiving preferential treatment at their expense. When I hear Mr. Trump state that Mexicans are murderers and rapists and that they’re taking our jobs; that Muslims should be banned from entering our country; and when I hear that the former head of the Ku Klux Klan and white supremacists are campaigning for him, I harken back to that college history class — and I worry about Mr. Trump’s true motives and his plans for us should he become President Trump.

He’s also articulated how impressed he is with authoritarian dictators like Vladimir Putin, Saddam Hussein and Kim Jung Un, primarily because he feels they are examples of strong leaders, effective at eliminating dissenters; I recall how he encouraged violence against protesters at his campaign rallies and twice publicly planted the idea of doing violence to Hillary Clinton! He can lie about having done these things but I watched him do them on TV. It didn’t help my concerns about him when I learned that his first wife disclosed in an interview with Vanity Fair Magazine in 1990 that her then husband kept a book of Adolf Hitler’s speeches near his bed.

I’m not saying Trump sympathizes with Nazi philosophy; since he’s given me no reason to trust what he says, I don’t know what he really believes. However, I would like someone to ask Mr. Trump why it is that white American racists have come out of the woodwork to participate in his campaign; why do they feel that he’s their guy?

Based on his performance during this election season, I believe Trump would be ill equipped and dangerous were he to become our President and Commander of our armed forces; I also believe he’d be one of the worst possible role models for our children.

SANDY CHARYN

Bainbridge Island