Letters to the Editor | Dec. 4, 2025
Inquirer readers on labeling President Trump as a fascist and the pardon of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was convicted last year of drug trafficking.
As I say, not as I do
The president was highly critical of universities for protests he claimed were antisemitic. We did not hear a peep from the president, though, when Young Republicans in chat rooms used repugnant, antisemitic language, or when Tucker Carlson chatted on his podcast with white nationalist Nick Fuentes.
The president asked Republicans to release the Jeffrey Epstein files just 48 hours after he applied intense pressure on Lauren Boebert to change her vote on the discharge petition, which would have kept the files in the dark shadows where they have been for the last decade.
As we seem to get closer and closer to military engagement in Venezuela, under the guise of stopping the flow of illegal drugs, our president has announced his plan to pardon Juan Orlando Hernández, the former president of Honduras and a convicted drug trafficker.
I appreciate the way The Inquirer has covered these stories, and I hope you will continue to shine a light on these obscene examples of the president’s hypocrisy and moral bankruptcy.
Rob Howard, Rosemont
. . .
Donald Trump announced a “full and complete pardon” for Juan Orlando Hernández, the former president of Honduras, who was serving a 45-year sentence in federal prison. He was found guilty, in a U.S. federal court, of conspiring to import cocaine into our country. In 2024, there were an estimated 1.3 million Americans aged 12 and older addicted to cocaine.
Trump has murdered more than 80 people he suspected, with no evidence, of planning to bring drugs into our country.
For Trump, being in a fast boat near the U.S. is proof enough of guilt, but a conviction in federal court is not. How’s that for a rational, effective drug policy?
Is it possible that dirty drug money can buy a full and complete pardon?
James A. Morano, New Britain Township
Weaponizing truth
I strongly disagree with Jonathan Zimmerman’s premise that calling the president a fascist doesn’t do anything to advance the Democrats’ cause. It’s similar to what happened almost 100 years ago in Europe when the Jewish people were saying the Nazi Party was dangerous and would destroy Germany. But that warning went unheeded.
This isn’t an etiquette class or an English course at the University of Pennsylvania, Mr. Zimmerman; it’s the cold, hard world we’re living in. We should all be polite, but Donald Trump isn’t. He’s a bully, a name-caller, and he threatens people. Like those fascist Nazis 100 years ago, the MAGA movement, Project 2025, and Trump are all a threat to our democracy. If we don’t call Trump out for being the hateful, fascist liar he is — because it wouldn’t be nice or effective — what do you think is gonna happen? It’s gonna give Trump and his followers a signal that they can do even worse. Just look at Karoline Leavitt, Trump‘s press secretary, who usually responds to reporters’ questions as Trump does, with insults and division. And she’s been doing that since Day One. Zimmerman wants us to remain quiet about that?
Michael Miller Jr., Philadelphia, michamille@comcast.net
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