Linda Terwilliger: Trump's false claims misled the American people following election

To The Daily Sun,

Former President Donald Trump was voted out of office by the American people in 2020. During the recent hearings, numerous people testified that Trump clearly knew it. Joe Biden won the presidential election by over 7 million votes and he won the electoral vote by 306 to 232.

Starting way before election day, Trump knowingly lied to the American people. His bogus claims of election fraud were all debunked by numerous election officials, the FBI, the Department of Justice and many others. Rudy Giuliani’s legal team lost every court case, 62 of them in all. The court judges described the charges as “speculative,” “unsupported, “unreal,” “theories," “conjectures,” and having “no merit.”

Although Trump clearly knew his claims were false, he continues a sustained effort to convince millions of people that the election was stolen.

Trump raised $250 million based on fraudulent claims for the “Official Election Defense Fund,” which never existed.

On election night in 2020, his campaign manager told Trump that it was far too early to call the race, since the votes were still being counted.

That same night, Trump told his supporters that he had won the election “by a lot,” after an intoxicated Rudy Giuliani advised him to declare victory anyway.

Then, FOX News and the Associated Press declared Biden the winner.

William Barr and many others repeatedly told Trump that he had lost the election.

Campaign aides and many top advisors repeatedly told Trump that his claims of election fraud were not credible.

The FBI and the Department of Justice told Trump there was no evidence to support his claims, after numerous investigations.

Trump’s false claims became a “big rip-off” of the American people and the basis of a multi-step plot to overturn the election results, including the insurrection on Jan. 6.

Linda Terwilliger

Gilford