Response: We reserve the right to criticize the president-elect when necessary

A letter to the editor printed below expresses confusion over our position on some conservative issues. We'd like to respond.

The writer questioned why we would continue to support House Bill 2, the state law that requires transgender people to use the restroom of their physical anatomy, while at the same time endorsing Donald Trump, a man who has been publicly chastised for inappropriate sexual advances toward women, for president.

The answer is simple. We are conservative in nature and take a conservative position, both socially and economically, on most issues. Yes, we continue to support HB2 because we think it is the right thing.

We supported Trump for president because we believe he represented a better choice than his opponent, who was more liberal. But that doesn't mean that we backed Trump whole-heartedly and we said that in our endorsement. We had -- and have -- reservations about his temperament for the job. Trump has done and said things that are deeply disconcerting to us. It's just that he represented the lesser of two evils. Just because he earned our endorsement doesn't mean we agree with everything he does. His penchant for avoiding the press is just one of the things we don't like about him. There are others and we reserve the right to criticize him as we see fit.

Trump is no godsend to this country. Many voters in Wayne County see him as that but we are not among them. You can expect us to call him out when we see the need to do so.

Published in Editorials on January 5, 2017 10:04 AM