Are the media again going to let Donald Trump off the hook for his outrageous lies?
After five years of repeating the vicious and false accusation that President Barack Obama was not born an American citizen and that therefore his presidency was illegitimate, suddenly Mr. Trump says he knows that isn't true ("Trump's reversal on Obama birthplace conspiracy stokes more controversy," Sept. 16).
What happened? Did new information come to light, or was he aware that it was a lie all along?
This is an important question that gets right to his character and cannot be swept under the rug. Hillary Clinton was subjected to endless questioning and examination regarding her email practices, and no instance of actual harm was ever found by the FBI or the congressional committees.
Mr. Trump's repeating the birther lie, by contrast, not only was hurtful, disgraceful and offensive to President Obama and his family, but it divided the American people and contributed to the ongoing dysfunction of our political system.
This is actual damage to our country, and we need Mr. Trump to explain why he spread the lie and then why he changed his mind.
And we need to hear an apology from Donald Trump, not one of his surrogates.
No more evasions, no more free publicity. It is time, finally, for Mr. Trump to step up and take responsibility for his actions, and for the media to hold him accountable for them.
Bradley Alger, Baltimore