To the Editor:

"I love war … including with nukes," Donald Trump said. He asked an adviser, "If we have them, why can’t we use them?" He says he would like more countries to have nuclear weapons. Yet when asked in a debate, he did not even know what the nuclear triad is, or the purpose of our nuclear weapons as a deterrent. Can we risk Trump being Commander in Chief?

He suggests he might not defend our NATO allies, but he embraces Vladimir Putin as a great leader – Putin, former head of the KGB, who rules as a dictator, has opponents and journalists murdered, invades other countries like Georgia and Ukraine, props up Syria’s Assad and hacks American computers trying to manipulate our elections. Putin is his role model!

Over 100 top Republicans, including foreign policy and military experts, have declared Trump unfit to be Commander in Chief, based on his lack of knowledge and his temperament. Colin Powell calls Trump "a national disgrace." Joe McQuaid of The Union Leader calls Trump "a liar, a bully, a buffoon." Mitt Romney calls him "a phony." He makes racist remarks, denigrates women, Muslims and Hispanics and mocks opponents. Yet Kelly Ayotte supports him to be president.

Trump says he knows more about ISIS than our generals. He has lied repeatedly that he was against the wars in Iraq and Libya, when he is on video supporting both. Trump recently said that if Iranian sailors taunted Americans with hand gestures, he would blow them out of the water, possibly provoking a war. He would kill the families of terrorists, including innocent women and children. He would use torture, despite international law prohibiting it.

Trump sought five deferments so he did not have to go to Vietnam, yet he says John McCain is not a war hero because he was captured. He showed disrespect for Gold Star parents and commented inappropriately and falsely on his secret intelligence briefing on national TV. Then he recently went on state-sponsored Russian TV to criticize our military and our free press. Trump does business with Russian oligarchs and unsavory people throughout the world, yet he refuses to release his tax returns which might show conflicts of interest dangerous to our national security. Yet Kelly Ayotte supports him to be president.

Donald Trump is unfit to be president. If Kelly Ayotte supports Donald Trump, why should New Hampshire support Kelly Ayotte?

Mimi Silverman

Bedford