To the Journal editor:

Hitler’s propaganda chief, Joseph Goebbels, operated on the principle that, “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” Donald Trump began telling the “election fraud” lie months prior to the vote in November.

He is still repeating that lie as he relocates to Mar-a-Lago after losing by over 7 million votes. In over 60 court cases his lawyers have not presented any evidence of fraud because they can find none. Even judges appointed by Trump have thrown his lawsuits out. Yet the lie continues to be repeated.

And believed by members of his MAGA cult. Believed to the point where, after his incitement at a rally outside the White House, the cultists began a deadly insurrection at the Capitol.

They beat a Capitol Police officer to death, trashed the citadel of democracy and came dangerously close to kidnapping and executing elected officials, all based on lies told by a conman, desperate to maintain his hold on power …

What makes this situation even more tragic is the cynical cooperation offered up by Republican elected officials at all levels of government including our U.S. representative, Jack Bergman. Even after the seditious assault that tore through the Capitol, Bergman and nearly 150 other Republicans voted to maintain the lie and overturn the election.

There are only two ways to view their position: either they perpetrated the lie to appease the Trump-loving GOP base, or they actually believed the lie. Neither answer is acceptable. Both are shameful. America deserves better.

Editor’s note: Mr. Prusi is a former state representative, state senator and official with the United Steelworkers Union.