The president ‘fueled it, he built it, he encouraged the lying,’ says the former ADL head. ‘He emboldened the bigots’ and must be punished. Healing the country will be harder. Donald Trump’s legacy, “the most terrible, horrific thing he has left us in America, is the destruction of truth… And a democracy can’t survive if there is no truth.” That is the warning sounded by Abraham Foxman, who has spent his life fighting racism and anti-Semitism, leading the Anti-Defamation League for decades, in the wake of last week’s deadly assault on the Capitol and with the US on alert for more violence. Speaking to The Times of Israel a week after Trump fired up supporters some of whom then invaded the Capitol, and amid growing concern that extremists will again gather in DC and across the United States to try to disrupt the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, Foxman said Trump was a demagogue who had emboldened legions of bigots. He said it was vital that Trump leave office “tarnished” — punished for his behavior — and barred from a future second presidential term. And he pleaded for a return of civility and respect in American discourse. But the biggest challenge left by Trump’s toxic presidency, and the one for which Foxman acknowledged he had no definitive solution, was the salvaging of truth. “This man lied as if it was the truth,” he said of Trump. “I don’t know what the answer is. I know it’s a strong media. I know it’s strong, democratic institutions and judiciary, but it also needs the courage of good people to stand up… I just saw a video of 15 minutes of interviews of Trump supporters,” he said. “It’s scary. It is scary what they believe.”
via timesofisrael: ‘Trump’s horrific legacy: He destroyed the truth in America’ — Abe Foxman