This is a tough column to write, because I don’t want to demean or insult those who write me in good faith. I’ve started it a half dozen times since November but turned to other topics each time because this needle hard to thread.

The truth is that Donald Trump undermined faith in our elections in his false bid to retain the presidency. He sparked an insurrection intended to overthrow our government and keep himself in power. No president in our history has done worse.

This is not subjective. We all saw it. Plenty of leaders today try to convince the masses we did not see what we saw, but our eyes don’t deceive. (If leaders began a yearslong campaign today to convince us that the Baltimore bridge did not collapse Tuesday morning, would you ever believe them?) Trust your eyes. Trump on Jan. 6 launched the most serious threat to our system of government since the Civil War. You know that. You saw it.

The facts involving Trump are crystal clear, and as news people, we cannot pretend otherwise, as unpopular as that might be with a segment of our readers. There aren’t two sides to facts. People who say the earth is flat don’t get space on our platforms. If that offends them, so be it.

Cleveland Plain Dealer teaches The New York Times how to journalism.

    • snooggums@midwest.socialEnglish
      35·
      8 months ago

      They were too invested in the ‘both sides are just trying to do things differently’ idea and didn’t want to appear to be taking sides. This unfortunately breaks when abused by fascists, and it takes time to drop traditions that don’t work for the current times.

      Plus a lot of the media is owned by conservatives who want to keep their side appearing to be legitimate.