Story highlights Jennifer Granholm: Donald Trump's rhetoric is causing irreparable damage to United States

Democracy doesn't need candidate who intentionally stokes jingoism, she says

Jennifer Granholm is the former governor and former attorney general of Michigan. She's currently a senior research fellow at UC Berkeley. She also serves as senior advisor to Correct The Record, a super-PAC supporting Hillary Clinton for president in 2016. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

(CNN) Dear Donald:

Even though some say Hillary Clinton would benefit if you were to be the GOP nominee, for the good of the country I want you to get out of the race. Your lies and vitriolic rhetoric are causing irreparable damage to the nation.

In " The Leadership Challenge ," a best-selling tome on leadership by James Kouzes and Barry Posner, 89% of people across the globe identify honesty as the most important characteristic of a leader. It seems counterintuitive, then, that despite spewing lies every week and managing to offend people of every race, creed and color, you have still managed to sit atop the Republican presidential candidate polls for five months . In Trump World, you can fabricate historical events to falsely embellish your golf course, or worse, spread lies about a nonexistent video that you claim showed thousands of Muslims celebrating in New Jersey after the twin towers fell.

Jennifer Granholm

It would be one thing if your lies were careless or unintentional missteps, mistakes that you would admit when presented with facts and then move forward. Instead, you refuse to acknowledge reality and choose to double and triple down on your lies. It is as if you believe you are above the truth, that whatever you believe is fact, and whoever confronts you is unfairly attacking you. Your lies have led the media to declare you "in a league of [your] own " when it comes to making claims that repeatedly fail " to mesh with reality ."

Why don't your lies seem to matter?