To the editor:

It is fair to say that all politicians stretch the truth, but it is not true that both sides shatter the truth.

Among the many lies that Donald Trump told during the recent debate were that foreign governments are sending criminals to the United States, that immigrants are eating people’s pets, that doctors in some states are allowed to kill babies after they are born, that every legal scholar wanted to reverse Roe v Wade, and that he won the 2020 election. These claims are part of a dark fantasy that exists in Trump’s mind, but they are not part of reality. Trump wishes they were true, but there is no real-world evidence to support them.

This type of lie based on a distorted reality is not part of normal political discourse as practiced by Democrats and traditional Republicans who may disagree about how to solve problems but do not disagree about using evidence rather than wishful thinking to establish truth.

There are other types of disputed claims that are used by all politicians, including Trump and Harris. For example, politicians often predict the future, making claims that cannot be verified until time has passed, if ever. In the debate Trump claimed that Kamala Harris will ban fracking on day one. Harris answered that she will not ban fracking. Harris claimed that Trump will sign a national abortion ban if it comes to his desk. Trump has facilitated abortion bans in 22 states, but he will not say whether he will support a national abortion ban.

Politicians also make claims that are not true but are slight distortions of the truth. In the debate, Harris said that at the end of Trump’s term we were suffering from the worst unemployment rate since the Great Depression. In fact, the historically high unemployment rate occurred before the end of Trump’s term. By the end of his term employment had recovered somewhat. Trump claimed that people never leave his rallies before they end. In fact, there is video evidence that people have left some of his rallies before they ended.

All politicians make disputed claims. Most of Trump’s lies are much more egregious. He seems to be role playing in a dark fantasy world that he makes up as he goes along. We Americans should not role play with him. It is dangerous to elect a President who lives in a fantasy world.

Sherwin Skar

Marshall