Bill Gerling
Jefferson City
Dear Editor:
The Office of Strategic Services (CIA predecessor) described Hitler's use of the Big Lie blaming German Jews for the loss of World War I as the following: Never allow the public to cool off, never admit fault or concede, never accept blame but blame your enemy for everything. People will believe the Big Lie sooner than the little one if you repeat it often enough.
Trump told 30,573 lies and misleading claims while he was president, according to the Washington Post. He continues to lie to Americans about his loss in the election. He has convinced millions of followers that he is the legitimate president and that he will be "reinstated." This Big Lie is probably the greatest challenge that our country has faced since the Civil War. It is because most of the Republican politicians are tethered to his lie. Biden won the electoral vote by 74 votes and the popular vote by more than 7 million. Chris Krebs, director of Cyber and Infrastructure Security Agency, stated that the 2020 election was the most secure in history. Trump fired him.
There were no "dual electoral votes" presented during certification of the election -- although Trump's lawyer wanted Vice President Mike Pence to call for some from Republican-controlled state legislatures. Trump's lawyers lost 60 cases in state courts and the Supreme Court refused to throw out 2.5 million mail-in votes from Pennsylvania. There were numerous audits and recounts of ballots in battleground states that confirmed Biden's victory.
There were no ballots in suitcases in Georgia. These came from other polling stations and were counted properly. Georgia recounted three times without changing the result. Arizona, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania all had recounts and audits. Dominion voting machines did not flip votes. They are used in 28 states including many Trump won.
By Jan. 6 Trump was desperate to change the election outcome. At his rally preceding the Capitol insurrection he told his followers: "If you don't fight like hell we won't have a country anymore." "We will stop the steal." "We are going to the Capitol." The results were not a peaceful protest but one of violence and mayhem watched by Trump, telling them they "were very special." Over 600 people were arrested, 100 sentenced, 150 police injured and five people dead. Facts don't matter to lying autocrats. Autocrats create their own facts.