Re: “Pence says Trump was ‘wrong’ in saying vice president could overturn election” (Feb. 4):

Donald Trump’s coup was to destroy our democratic government. His lie, stating the 2020 election was “stolen,” has made him the perfect candidate as seen through the lens of the folktale “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” written by Hans Christian Andersen.

The story is about an emperor feared by his citizens. Nobody would speak up against the emperor for fear of his retaliation.

Two swindlers, pretending to be weavers, convinced the emperor that their special material would be invisible to incompetent people. The emperor’s pride refused to let him believe that nothing was there. The weavers dressed him with no clothes and the emperor walked around naked. A boy cried out, “The emperor has no clothes!” Townspeople laughed at the emperor, but he walked believing only incompetent people could not see his clothes.

Elected officials signing a loyalty pledge to Mr. Trump want a dictatorship, and they have nullified their allegiance to the United States and to uphold our Constitution. As president, Trump placed himself above our Constitution trying to force then-Vice President Mike Pence to stop the Electoral College vote counting.

I support Mr. Pence’s remarks about Mr. Trump’s coup against our Constitution and all citizens. Mr. Pence has the courage to stand up against anarchy. His statement reinforces federalism as a unity of states, and a republic where its citizens have the power to vote for its elected officials. Mr. Trump is naked as his lies.

Paul Baresel
Buxton