The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board is defending its decision to publish a letter to the editor from former President Donald Trump that contained claims of widespread fraud.
In an op-ed published on Thursday, the editorial board wrote, “The progressive parsons of the press are aflutter that we published a letter to the editor from former President Trump, objecting to our editorial pointing out that he lost Pennsylvania last year by 80,555 votes.”
“We trust our readers to make up their own minds about his statement. And we think it’s news when an ex-President who may run in 2024 wrote what he did, even if (or perhaps especially if) his claims are bananas,” it added.
The op-ed went on to note that Trump’s letter contained his “familiar barrage” of election claims, and it is “difficult to respond to everything, and the asymmetry is part of the former President’s strategy.”
After seeking to debunk several of the former president’s claims, the board noted that “election fraud does happen,” but “the evidence doesn’t show anything real that could dent Pennsylvania’s 80,555-vote margin.”
The op-ed continued:
“Even if it did, Mr. Trump would be two states short of victory. Georgia’s ballots were counted three times and a signature check done. The Arizona audit was a dud. A Michigan inquiry led by a GOP lawmaker ended up keelhauling “willful ignorance” and grifters who use misinformation ‘to raise money or publicity.’ Mr. Trump’s lawyers who made baseless claims have been sued for defamation—twice. They’ve been sanctioned by a federal judge. Does Mr. Trump imagine a conspiracy so deep that practically everybody is in on it?”
Finally, the editorial board noted that Trump spreads his election fraud claims through other mediums and argues the paper “hardly did him a special favor by letting him respond to our editorial.” Additionally, it noted it offers “the same courtesy to others we criticize, even when they make allegations we think are false.”
“As for the media clerics, their attempts to censor Mr. Trump have done nothing to diminish his popularity. Our advice would be to examine their own standards after they fell so easily for false Russian collusion claims. They’d have more credibility in refuting Mr. Trump’s,” the op-ed concluded.
On Wednesday, the paper published Trump’s letter to the editor responding to an op-ed that stated that President Joe Biden won Pennsylvania fairly. In his response, the former president revived a variety of his unfounded claims of fraud in the election.
The paper received criticism over its decision to publish his letter without annotations or noting that his claims have been debunked.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that the 2020 election was “stolen” through widespread fraud. However, several recounts and legal challenges did not alter the results of the election or find evidence of widespread fraud.