The left's national tantrum over the Trump victory, evidenced by freeway blockages, street riots, internet rants, harassment of members of the Electoral College, and tasteless displays of moral superiority from the Hollywood elite, is appalling.  In traditional America, such petulant conduct does not find itself bleeding out so profusely among grown people because it is trained out of youngsters by parents who discipline their kids for throwing fits in the candy store after Mommy hasn't bought them an extra gumball.  Unfortunately, the modern left is populated with legions of adult brats who were raised without such disciplinary boundaries while concurrently having been coddled with participation trophies, self-esteem awards, and Ritalin.  These man-children are behaving like schoolyard hooligans, bullying other students whom they dislike, irrespective of whether their prey has committed any genuine offense against them.  The communist rent-a-mobs, mainstream media mandarins, and preening self-righteous entertainers who are crybabying their way through post-election America are acting out in an effort to assert their authority over the political landscape without having acquired it by means of thoughtful persuasion or a win at the ballot box. 

The left has bellowed nonstop since November 8 that safety for ethnic and religious minorities, women, and LGBTQ people is now at risk, that the alt-right has been legitimized (with the KKK  waiting in the wings to place a conical white hood on the 45th president), and that Donald Trump is among the spawn of "The Boys from Brazil."  These regressive progressives are making an Olympic sport out of mean-spiritedness, attacking Trump supporters with insults and fisticuffs, and libeling the president-elect and his team with the epithets of the Dennis Prager acronym SIXHIRB: sexist, intolerant, xenophobic, homophobic, Islamophobic, racist, and bigoted.  Impolite as it was for the cast of Hamilton to call out Mike Pence after he had just spent money on their show, the offensiveness of this leftist Sturm und Drang is not only in its puerile aggressiveness, but because it is rooted in calumny, lies, and distortion.   

Though full of braggadocio and equipped with a sharp tongue, Donald J. Trump is not a Hitlerian villain as perceived by his opponents.  Hitler had a recorded history of Jew-hatred and a desire to implement totalitarianism dating at least as far back as 1923, when he published Mein Kampf, ten years before he was elected Germany's chancellor.  Were he a reincarnation of Der Führer with the vile qualities attributed to him by our liberal neighbors, one would expect there to be a preponderance of evidence of The Donald promoting hardened statism, hating minorities, abusing women wholesale, and persecuting non-heterosexuals over the past three or so decades during which he has been a public figure.

What exactly is the public record of Donald Trump? 

Going back to the 1980s, Trump has been a celebrity mogul, who has routinely preached and practiced capitalism (albeit the crony capitalist type of greasing the skids of the political machines in the places where he has worked).  Though he has a Hooveresque streak of protectionism, and his proposed tariff policy can be construed as an intimidation of businesses that are offshoring, there is nothing in his history to indicate that Trump has fascist designs to control the means of production of any industry through presidential power.  He has always been enamored of comely women, as one can see in his multiple marriages and his forays into beauty pageantry.  His crass put-downs of women whom he finds unattractive have always been a part of his native lexicon, yet despite this saucy banter, Trump has ample female acolytes, most notably his campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway.  His ex-wives have had nothing negative to say about him, and even the scorned Ivana, whom the New York billionaire ditched for a younger blond bombshell (Marla Maples) in the late '80s, expressed her full support for his candidacy. 

Surf the internet, and you will find a plethora of photos featuring prominent black Americans, including Shaquille O'Neal; Mike Tyson; Don King; and even race hustlers Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and Spike Lee mugging with our president-elect.  In spite of the mainstream media blackout (pun intended) on the subject of Trump's support in the black community, he has enjoyed the vocal backing of black Americans including Pastor Darrell Scott, Herman Cain, and Omarosa Manigault.  During the transition, Trump has sat down with self-professed Democrat Bob Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television (no bastion of Confederate sentiments), to discuss the economic needs of black Americans.

Would a man who detests people of diverse sexual orientations actually go on record as saying that the person formerly known as Bruce Jenner should be able to use the bathroom of his choosing?  When an Islamic radical murdered 49 people in a gay nightclub in the name of Allah in June 2016, Hillary Clinton claimed her solidarity with gays by blaming guns.  Trump composed a statement containing this conclusion:

We need to protect all Americans, of all backgrounds and all beliefs, from Radical Islamic Terrorism - which has no place in an open and tolerant society. Radical Islam advocates hate for women, gays, Jews, Christians and all Americans. I am going to be a President for all Americans, and I am going to protect and defend all Americans. We are going to make America safe again and great again for everyone.

Why would a man whom the left declares an opponent of gay rights openly express his willingness to protect that community?  Even if standing up for gays were only political theater, would it not be a dangerous gambit to cause an affront to his supporters on the religious right who are no fans of same-sex attraction?  Is it Islamophobic to suggest that we ought to vet immigrants from the Muslim world, which is well known for its unfriendly stance toward homosexuality?

The left's panic attack over Trump's alleged alignment with Nazis and Klansmen has scarce empirical data to confirm the claim.  Frankly, this assertion is rooted in three elements, the first being his clumsy statement on illegal immigration during his campaign announcement speech:

The U.S. has become a dumping ground for everybody else's problems[.] … When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're not sending you. ... They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.  But I speak to border guards and they tell us what we're getting. And it only makes common sense[.] ... They're sending us not the right people.

The second fear-inducer is the twofold October surprise of the Billy Bush tape and the gaggle of women emerging from nowhere to accuse Trump of sexual assault.  The third has to do with his suggestion that we cease immigration from Muslim countries.  Outside these relatively recent and few-in-number items, can someone please point out where in Donald Trump's long public career there is clear evidence that he has actively mistreated various interest groups such that he can be properly labeled a bigot of epic proportions? 

I know that you can't, because it's not there.  But hey, why ruin a perfectly good protest movement to trash our Republic just because there are no facts to support it?

John Steinreich has a master's in church history from Colorado Theological Seminary and is the author of two Christian-themed non-fiction books, The Words of God? and A Great Cloud of Witnesses.  His works are available on Lulu Press and on Kindle.