Read This One Line From Chris Suprun's NYT Op-Ed

Republican elector Christopher Suprun recently penned an op-ed in The New York Times urging his fellow electors to draw a line in the sand: Reject president-elect Donald Trump by instead voting your conscience, and elect a different, more respectable Republican to the White House come Dec. 19. He casts a large net, arguing the myriad reasons why Trump is a terrible choice for president (his clear conflicts of interest, lack of experience, and growing cabinet of practical super villains are just a few reasons he cites). But there is one line from Suprun's New York Times op-ed that drives this point home more than any other: Trump "does not encourage civil discourse, but chooses to stoke fear and create outrage."

To make this point, Suprun looks to the difference in leadership style between former President George W. Bush and Trump in the wake of tragedies. Suprun says that Bush — though "an imperfect man" — "led us through the tragic days following the attacks." Bush worked to unite the country, famously saying that "Islam is peace" and stressing to a grieving American public that "acts of violence against innocents violate the fundamental tenets of the Islamic faith."

It's this clear difference in Bush's response to crisis that consequently highlights why Trump is so unfit for the Oval Office.

As we've seen time and time again, Trump has used tragedies not to comfort a grieving American public, but rather, to "stoke fear and create outrage." One only needs to look to the multiple tragedies that occurred over the course of Trump's campaign to understand that he is not only incapable of offering compassion, but blatantly twists these events for his own benefit.

After the San Bernardino attack, Trump warned that he could not repeat what he would do to terrorists because it would get him "in trouble." He later spread false claims that Muslim people in the California neighborhood knew about the attack before it occurred, saying it was up to them to report and stop terroristic acts.

In the wake of the Orlando massacre, Trump congratulated himself on "being right." Soon after, he asked a crowd of supporters, "Can you imagine what [Muslim immigrants] do in large groups, which we're allowing now to come here?" Never mind that the shooter was American-born and attacked alone.

These responses show that Trump is willing to exploit the American people, preying on fears with false claims while inflating his own ego. Suprun's call to elect an "honorable and qualified" Republican alternative should not go unheard by his fellow electors.