My father spent four hours with me last week at the car dealership looking at, test driving and discussing the best vehicle for me to buy. He helped me get the lowest possible interest rate on my loan and spent extra time asking about the car’s safety rating, that he had no doubt laboriously reviewed on Consumer Reports prior to my choosing a car.

My dad had similar conversations with teachers, doctors, real estate agents and anyone else who might have anything to do with my well-being throughout my childhood and young adulthood. I’m now an adult and he continues to do his best to protect me and my sisters, because that’s what dads are supposed to do – ensure that no one takes advantage of or hurts their kids.

A few hours after I drove off in my safe, affordable and dad-approved car, I heard an interview with the Republican candidate for president telling a radio host it would be okay with him to refer to his daughter as a “piece of ass.” I felt sick and wondered how my dad would feel if he heard a man disrespect his daughters, granddaughters, sisters, nieces, mother or wife that way. He’d never tolerate it, because real men don’t accept that kind of abuse toward anyone, certainly not their children.

I think it’s safe to say that we Americans tend to have short memories – perhaps as a coping mechanism to forget some of the negative news we’re bombarded with on a daily basis – but I think it’s worth remembering that if Donald Trump has so little regard for how people treat his own daughter, in what regard can we expect him to hold the millions of Americans he’s meant to protect if he’s elected president of the United States in November?

Nicole Petit

South Portland

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