One sentence in the recap of the presidential debate in the Friday, June 28 paper reflected the efforts of journalists to avoid the truth in order to make a story. The sentence: “Trump sought to deflect blame for Jan. 6.” The truth is that Donald Trump outright denied any responsibility for it. He denied sending emails to gather the mob on Jan. 6, 2021. He failed to mention that on that morning, he inspired the mob — some of whom carried weapons — to go to the Capitol, where rioters said they planned to hang Mike Pence and destroy Nancy Pelosi. When forced by his own security officials to return to the White House, Trump watched the mob as they damaged the building, injured policemen and mocked the constitutional processes of our United States. For more than two hours, he did nothing to stop the violence and verbal threats, and finally he sent them away with a good job commendation.
Much of what I have learned about Jan. 6 comes by way of the Congressional Jan. 6 Committee, which Donald Trump claims hid facts in order to place blame on him. The truth is that all those who testified in the committee’s televised reports — except for policemen who had been violently injured — were former Republican officials or aides to Trump who had left their previous positions as they realized that their former idol was flawed. Others who testified to the committee but remained loyal to Trump pleaded the Fifth Amendment again and again when asked questions in regard to Trump’s role on Jan. 6. Many key witnesses of Trump’s actions and words that day refused to testify, presumably to protect their leader.
Trump’s attempt to blame Pelosi for Jan. 6 is so ridiculous, I would call it delusional.Was Trump’s debate response deflecting blame? No, it was a blatant lie regarding the events before and on Jan. 6. His other responses in the debate were only a rapid succession of half-truths, misrepresentations, and outright lies which had little to do with the questions the moderators posed.
This type of response in a debate has a name, the Gish gallop, and is an effective method of overwhelming a debate adversary. And yet political pundits and even The New York Times are calling for President Biden to step down. Apparently, truth no longer matters. I, for one, will never vote for a man who consistently ignores truth, the law, is incapable of respectful interaction, and who thinks that firing others is a mark of good leadership. The story should not be about an aging man. It is about a man who lies. I have no respect for Donald Trump.
— Joy Sharpe
Anchorage
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