President Trump must accept the results of the election

With President Donald Trump and so many supporters claiming that the election was stolen, I urge the president to pursue every recount and every legally available avenue to investigate this possibility ["Trump backers: ‘This isn’t over,’" News, Nov. 8]. The illegitimacy or legitimacy of the election must be established beyond reasonable doubt. If the former proves to be true, we can hope that redress will be readily available. But I’m more concerned about the latter. Suppose there is no significant evidence of error or fraud? It would not be surprising if Trump were to continue to assert that such had occurred nonetheless, and that many of his followers would believe him. It is chilling to contemplate the consequences, keeping in mind the planned kidnapping of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and other violence. How much fiercer would the reactions be to an election believed to be stolen?

Christopher Paul,

Bayport

It appears to me that Trump supporters who see socialism lurking in every Democratic corner seem to be OK with tyranny.

Marie Brown,

Baldwin

Most observers seem focused on whether ballots were counted ["Resisting election result," News, Nov. 9]. I believe the real issue is not the ballots, but the software used to tally votes. In the age of cyber crime, where someone can steal your identity, I imagine it could take only a few lines of computer code inserted into the vote tally program to add or subtract hundreds or thousands of votes. The votes could be counted honestly by dedicated employees and volunteers only to have the totals manipulated by someone across the world. To me, this is the real risk and where we should be looking if we really want to ensure a fair vote.

Scott Werner,

Port Washington

In 2016, with a conventional, pre-pandemic voting process, Donald Trump won the Electoral College vote and presidency. Because his seemingly fragile, bottomless ego could not conceive that he lost the popular vote, he claimed massive fraud, citing 3 to 5 million illegal votes without proof. In response, he assembled a task force to root out election corruption. It was soon disbanded when little or no voter fraud could be found. Fast-forward to 2020: The boy is still crying wolf. In 2016, like President Trump in 2020, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton lost key battleground states by fractions of 1 percent. As devastatingly shocked and disappointed as she must have felt, she conceded with dignity and respect for the process and the country. I believe it is time for Trump to follow suit.

John Chumas,

Port Jefferson

To quote President Gerald Ford, "My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over."

Samuel Carpentier,

Garden City

President Donald Trump and some Republican politicians have had trouble pronouncing the first name of Kamala Harris. Problem solved: Just substitute "Madame Vice President." They shouldn’t have too much trouble pronouncing it anymore.

Stuart H. Cooper,

Kew Gardens

All President Donald Trump had to do was to say wearing a mask was a patriotic duty. Then hand out MAGA masks. He would not have the stain of the deaths of tens of thousands of people on his hands, and I believe he would have had a better shot at winning this election.

Ellen Rasmussen,

Islip

I believe that President Donald Trump knows he’s been defeated ["Biden seeks to quickly build his administration," News, Nov. 9]. He’s already supposedly told insiders he is thinking about running in 2024. Unless he’s completely unaware of the 22nd Amendment, he knows that the only way he can run in 2024 is if he lost in 2020. One can therefore only guess why he is keeping up the challenge charade, although the possibility of a moneymaking scheme comes to my mind. If, however, he really is ignorant about the 22nd Amendment, I believe that should exclude him from assuming a second term, now or in 2024. After all, shouldn’t he understand the document that he swore to "preserve, protect and defend?"

Leonard Cohen,

Wantagh

If, as President Donald Trump insists, the presidential election was rigged in key states, doesn’t the president bear some responsibility for it? Wouldn’t allowing votes to be stolen be a dereliction of his duty as president?

Richard Morrock,

Coram

The primary definition of sedition is "the inciting of hostility against the government, likely to cause rebellion or insurrection." Sedition is a crime. President Donald Trump’s rhetoric against the American institution of voting for our leaders began long before this election but has become more toxic since the election. I believe his insistence that he won if "legal" but not "illegal" votes were counted is designed to stir up his followers and cast doubt on the way American democracy works. To me, his behavior in words and tweets amounts to sedition. He scares me. I am afraid that our beautiful and peaceful country will experience violence based on Trump’s rhetoric. He must be stopped.

Carole Seymour,

Holbrook