I FIND myself in the uncomfortable position of writing in the defence of Donald Trump, a man I neither admire nor respect. Today, on both the broadcast media and in the press, he is being castigated for condemning “both sides” for the violence that occurred at Charlottesville (“Trump returns to blaming ‘all sides’”, The Herald, August 16). This despite his quite unequivocal, if tardy, denunciation of racists and white supremacists only the day before.

Freedom of expression is written into the United States Constitution in The First Amendment and, unlike here, one is perfectly entitled, with a few exceptions, to lawfully express views which might be considered both provocative and highly offensive. If you disagree with white supremacists, anti-Semites and racists generally, and I do, then the response is not to physically assault them but to either challenge them with reasoned argument or to expose the daftness of their beliefs to ridicule. In my view violence directed against extremists of any hue only helps to further their cause.

By condemning both sides President Trump is not asserting some moral equivalence between them but merely recognising that violence is never the answer when confronted with views you disagree with. Freedom of expression is not just for those with whom we agree.

Jim Meikle,

41 Lampson Road, Killearn.

THAT retiring creature of American folklore, Bigfoot, now has a somewhat less retiring rival in the White House. Bigmouth.

Irene Black,

50 Ballater Drive,

Bearsden.