In Jim Fossel’s July 21 editorial, “We see now the power of rhetoric,” his allegation of Democrats’ rhetoric being responsible for the recent assassination attempt on Donald Trump is an effort to rewrite history. His logic appears to be that since the Senate acquitted the former president of fomenting an insurrection, he was completely innocent of that violent effort to keep him in office, so Democrats had no grounds to continue accusing Trump of misdeeds.

First, an impeachment is not a trial consisting of objective jurors, but a political effort with partisan overtones, just the opposite of a typical court proceeding. Second, the vote of 57 to 43 to convict was bipartisan, with seven Republican senators voting with the majority. In some countries the head of state would have been ousted. Third, and most important in an historical sense, the two loudest voices accusing the president of having responsibility for the riot were the two leaders of his own party, Sen. Mitch McConnell during a floor speech in the Senate Chamber and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy in the House. Their words were unambiguous, as was the evidence uncovered later during the Jan. 6 Committee hearings.

The fact of the matter is the only person responsible for the vile and inflammatory rhetoric that led to the assassination attempt, in addition to the shootings of House members and and the attack on Paul Pelosi, was Donald J. Trump.

George Martin

Mount Vernon