People chose President Trump, respect that, says Muslim Democrat

Moin Moon Khan, an Indian origin American Muslim who was the Democratic candidate for DuPage Recorder County, Illinois elections in 2016, is not averse to US President Donald Trump. Originally from Bihar, Khan was the first Asian American to get elected as a Trustee of York Township, DuPage County. Moon, who was visiting India, told Areeba Falak why the new US President should be given the chance to work. Excerpts:

Q: How do you explain the defeat of Hillary Clinton even though public opinion, as portrayed by the media, was that Donald Trump would not win the election?

A: Hillary Clinton was not the right candidate. She betrayed the nation. The best person who should have run for the position was Bernie Sanders. But with her Machiavellian strategies, she managed to defeat Sanders. People did not like Hillary Clinton, but they were so much scared of Donald Trump that they had to choose her as a necessary evil. Then there was a lot of disenchantment, particularly among the whites, against Barack Obama. They felt they were no longer a dominant force. They saw Barack as a demagogue. Another reason is that America has changed over the years. It has become like an old nawab, giving away benefits to various nations so that it can get support for the wars it was fighting in other places; this was affecting the American economy and people did not have enough jobs by the end of Obama’s tenure. The middle class was tortured because the government was not paying enough attention to economic gains, but only on political favours. These concerns were crystallised by Donald Trump. Donald Trump was a fresh candidate who had a lot of mystery around him, while Hillary Clinton had been in government for the last 20 years. People already knew too much of her and she was only talking about taking ahead Obama’s policies.

Q: Is Donald Trump good for the US?

A: Anyone who is elected by the people should love the country. So in that sense, it is good for America. But at the same time, policies bring the real impact. So, the question is whether Trump will respect American values while formulating his policies. The internal system of America respects the contributions of people from different countries; whether he will recognise them—which I think he should—will become deciding factors on how he proved himself as a President. He has been in office for only two weeks. He has started to materialise the promises he advocated throughout the last year. He is doing what he said he would. But campaigning is different from governing. Candidates say a lot of things before elections, but there are way too many checks and balances involved in running a country.

Q: Do you mean that even though he is trying to fulfil his campaign promises, but eventually he will have to improvise? For example, the ban on Muslim countries could backfire.

A: Trump has already started changing. He has not “banned” Muslims from America. I don’t think Trump has planned it out too well. Instead he picked four-five countries and chose to delay the entry of people from these countries for 90 days only. That being said, if there are people who intend to cause harm to America, then I think it is fair for us not to let these people come to America. There should be no negative propaganda about that.

Q. You sound like you are willing to give Donald Trump a fair chance. You are a Democrat.

A: Yes, I am a Democrat. I supported Barack Obama, Bernie Sanders and then Hillary Clinton. And yes, I lost because Hillary Clinton lost and I have resentment in my heart. But now we need to see Donald Trump beyond our prejudices. His main notion is how to benefit America. He has his own set of ideas on how he can do it. And it is part of American etiquette to give the new President at least a period of two-three months to settle down. He has been elected as the President of United States of America fair and square. We should respect the choice of the people. If people will not like him, they won’t bring him back after four years.