On June 1, 1950, Sen. Margaret Chase Smith delivered her famous Declaration of Conscience denouncing the shameful and deliberately untruthful tactics of Sen. Joe McCarthy. In her speech, she called on other Republicans to join her in denouncing the lies and wrongful accusations lobbed by McCarthy.

She rose to the occasion and her stance demonstrated the kind of leadership that Mainers expect from their elected officials. Sen. Susan Collins now must demonstrate her moral backbone.

On Thursday evening, President Trump repeatedly and knowingly lied about the election processes and results. His canards impugned the integrity of the thousands of election officials who are diligently doing their jobs and dangerously challenged the very foundation of our democracy. Sen. Collins – and all other responsible Republicans – have a moral and legal obligation to publicly and loudly repudiate his lies and help restore faith in our voting system. Anything less is complicity.

David Ray
Yarmouth