Opinion: Trump is losing — and he’s trying to take the country down with him

To the editor: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated allegation that the election is rigged against him sows seeds of distrust in our democracy and its institutions. (“Trump’s talk of a ‘rigged’ election is dangerous demagoguery,” editorial, Oct. 18)

His candidacy should serve as a lesson to the American voters: Do your homework and be careful whom you elect. Trump has been an embarrassment to members of his own party, many of whom have disavowed him.

I can truly say that in my 102 years of life, I have never seen a presidential race stoop so low.

Morie Markoff, Los Angeles

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To the editor: Trump’s assertion that the presidential election is “rigged” is an obvious attempt by him to save face in the event that he loses the election. The irony is that by making his false claims, it is Trump who is, in fact, “rigging” (or manipulating) the perceptions of the American people.

Fortunately, the vast majority of us are not that gullible.

Indeed, while Trump wants the American people to dismiss his vulgar remarks about women as “locker-room talk,” it seems far more likely that the American people will dismiss his claims of a rigged election as “padded-room talk.”

Steve Danning, Las Vegas

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To the editor: If this election is rigged, it happened way before Trump began his campaign to discredit our voting system by blaming his impending defeat on the media and voter fraud. It happened when the Republicans themselves started to legally rig elections.

It’s called gerrymandering.

Republican governors and state legislators have drawn electoral districts to virtually ensure that their state and federal seats will be incontestable. Many Republican-dominated states have gone even further, putting in place restrictive and often unconstitutional voting laws that will make casting ballots difficult for groups of citizens.

That is a rigged election. And guess what: Those adversely affected tend to not be Republican voters.

Julia Springer, Santa Barbara

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To the editor: Trump has already built a wall.

Saying the election is rigged has deeply divided my family and surely others like mine across the nation. Decent people turn a blind eye, while others scream at members of their own family, desperately trying to get through to their loved ones.

It has such a terrible price. We are the collateral damage no one speaks of. Saying the election is rigged has put up a wall up that words cannot reach over.

Maybe that is the wall Trump was talking about.

Dennis Grossman, Woodland Hills

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To the editor: It is nice that the presidential nominees can sleep in their own beds most nights, even while campaigning. (“Why Trump and Clinton sleep in their own beds most nights even though they’re on the campaign trail,” Oct. 13)

Now if I could only find a way to sleep at all after watching one of their debates.

Allen F. Dziuk, Carlsbad

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