President Trump had peaceful protestors gassed in front of the White House so he could walk across the street and have a photo op in front of the Episcopal church with a Bible held aloft in his hand. This is the same president who literally embraced an American flag at a CPAC gathering.

I presume he wants us all to know that he loves God and he loves his country. He wants us to know that he is a tough guy.

It had its expected effect in Republican circles — ex-governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin tweeted: ” Hard to imagine having the guts to walk out of the White House like this.”

I think Walker needs a history lesson. When this so-called patriotic tough guy was of an age when thousands of young men were drafted and sent to Vietnam to put their lives on the line, the future president was busy getting a dubious deferment for bone spurs because he was afraid to die for his country.

There is a word and a color to describe his behavior and it is certainly not “patriotism.”

George Howitt, Lewiston