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Letter: General Relief Society president should have declined posing with Trump

(Susan Walsh | The Associated Press) President Donald Trump, right, shakes hands with Narayanachar Digalakote, Priest at the Sri Siva Vishnu Temple in Lanham, Md., left, during a National Day of Prayer event in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Thursday, May 3, 2018. Jean B. Bingham, General President of the Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, looks on from center.

As a Mormon woman, I was saddened and appalled to see the recent photo of the General Relief Society president, Jean B. Bingham, smiling next to Donald Trump at something called the National Day of Prayer.

That Sister Bingham even attended this event might be excused in the hope that she added some dignity to the proceedings. But since this sham of a meeting was shamefully and hypocritically presided over by an immoral, foul-mouthed misogynist who has publicly bragged about sexually assaulting women, perhaps the leader of the largest all-female organization in the world would have made a greater impact if she had politely declined the invitation.

“I’m sorry, Mr. President,” she could have said, “I am needed at a Women’s Conference in Provo where we are helping women heal from the wounds of physical and emotional abuse, among other things. Smiling at the podium with you, Sir, might send the wrong message.”

Lynne Larson, American Fork