Do they believe Trump was cheated?

DEAR EDITOR:

I heard an on-site CBC reporter state that the Capitol Hill rioters really believe that Donald Trump had won the election, but I doubt that’s the case with the majority of his ardent supporters.

Just the loss itself is being touted as proof that Trump was cheated from a victory due to atypically massive electoral-ballot fraud — a claim they cannot factually support.

Meanwhile, they’ll vehemently deny that any form of electoral fraud may have unjustly put Trump into the White House four years ago.

Were there not scrutineers from both political camps monitoring the election, including ballot counts, last November?

Long before election day, Trump was saying he may not respect a Joe Biden win, as though preparing his voter base for his inevitable refusal to leave office, at least not with dignity.

I find it plausible they’re maintaining “Trump was cheated” as an excuse for their attempt to overturn Biden’s (apparently quite) legitimate electoral win — or at least make it as unpleasant as possible, as we saw on Jan. 6.

Might it be that those Donald Trump supporters consciously or subconsciously believe that he must remain in office for some perceived greater good — notably to save America, make it great again and/or do “God’s will,” regardless of his democratically-decided election loss, and all those in the majority who voted against Trump (which should not at all be a surprise) must be overridden?

It may be a case of that perhaps most dangerous of ideologies: the end justifies the means.

I’m not equating Trump or his base support to any of history’s genocidal maniacs, but the most frightful example of that philosophical justification is the pogrom, the implementers of which know they’re committing mass murder yet still genuinely perceive it all as part of an ultimately greater good.

Frank Sterle Jr.

White Rock