Editor, Times-Union:

In a recent radio interview with NPR, former President Trump was challenged to defend his lies about the 2020 election. The interview was supposed to last 15 minutes, but after only 9 minutes of questioning, Trump hung up, unable or unwilling to respond when presented with the facts.  Since the election, Trump has continued to try to spread his Big Lie, and Republicans across the country have raced to support him by changing election laws to make it more difficult to vote, especially for minorities and people of color.

The question is: If Trump himself is unable to defend his bogus claims for more than 9 minutes without hanging up, why are Republicans so eager to jump on his bandwagon and change election laws based on that Big Lie?

It's apparent in speaking with people in our community and reading their comments online that many people have bought into Trump's falsehoods about the election. It's time to put love for country and our hard-fought democracy over love for Trump. True patriots will support efforts to make voting available to all, instead of restricting it when they don't get the outcome they like.

Democrats are the only ones in Congress working to pass legislation that will protect our voting rights. The current legislation, among other things, would make election day a national holiday, allow voter registration up to election day and discourage partisan gerrymandering. These should be goals we all support, regardless of party. Tell your representative in Congress to support them too.

Robert Osbun

Leesburg, via email