The Westchester Community College Foundation took a look at the nation a year after the election of Donald Trump during its President”™s Forum, a major fundraiser for the foundation. There was a two-hour panel discussion titled “United or Divided: One Year Later.” The moderator was Lester M. Crystal, formerly with NBC News and longtime executive producer of the PBS NewsHour and former president of MacNeil/Lehrer Productions. The panelists were historian and foreign policy analyst Max Boot, former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, Ruth Marcus of The Washington Post and David Sanger of The New York Times.
Fleischer said, “To this day, I”™ll never use the word ”˜fake news”™ ”” I don”™t believe that”™s the way it is.” Marcus declared that she has never seen a level of polarization in the U.S. that has reached the present level.
Boot, who has been an adviser to past Republican presidential campaigns, blamed President Trump for worsening divisions among the American people.
Sanger noted that the Trump White House frequently does not respond to inquiries from journalists. Funds raised by the event help sustain the foundation, which was established to meet college and student needs that are not met by public funds. It has awarded more than $20 million in scholarships and grants that have helped more than 16,000 students. This year”™s forum was sponsored by JPMorgan Chase & Co., Con Edison and Abigail Kirsch Catering Relationships.
