LETTER: Truth essential for democracy to work

On Nov. 29, Andrew Solender, writer for Forbes magazine, listed all the elections where Donald Trump has “cried foul” and “widespread fraud”: (2012) when Trump endorsed Romney and tweeted reports of “voting machines switching Romney votes to Obama” and warned supporters to be “careful of voter fraud”; (2016) when Trump repeatedly chalked up his narrow loss to Sen. Ted Cruz in the Iowa caucus to voter fraud and claimed Cruz “cheated” and “stole” the election and demanded “a new election should take place”; (2016) despite winning the presidential election, Trump tweeted allegations of “millions of FRAUD votes” and “Serious voter fraud in Virginia, New Hampshire, and California”; (2017) Trump subtly pushed doubts about the legitimacy of Alabama’s special Senate seat, saying “The write-in votes played a very big factor”; (2018) Trump took aim at Senate elections in Arizona and Florida and a gubernatorial race in Georgia, claiming Florida counties “miraculously started finding Democratic votes” and talked of unexplained “electoral corruption”; (2020) a rare example where Trump lacked a direct personal stake, he called for a rerun in the Democratic primary, pointing to it as a prime example of the failings of mail-in voting.
We all know the deadly results of Trump’s cries of fraud in the presidential election of 2020, where he began trumpeting fraud during the summer. The question then becomes was this just Trump’s habitual tactic or did he have specific evidence to support his charge this time? As in all the times before, he didn’t have evidence. He ordered his previously devoted attorney general and the Justice Department to find some evidence, anywhere. William Barr couldn’t find any evidence and said so. In court, where the standard of truth is somewhat more rigorous than rallies, TV, or talk radio, Trump lost over 60 times. “I’ve heard …” is not evidence.
Many people love Trump. They consider him a trusted brother, a savior.
We don’t all need to love the same person for democracy to work. But, we do all need to have a basic concept of truth and how to prove something true or false.
This is where we are.
Rev. Gerard Weiss
Washington