OPINION: Recent column from Livingston is disappointing

The column on Sept. 23 by Mr. Livingston is extremely disappointing. He states, "Our 45th president has already made it clear that he doesn't know if he would leave the White House if he loses the election." You should check your "facts," sir. All it takes is a check at Snopes to read what was said. What an insulting question which the press has not asked other presidents. So the president pulled their chain. Snopes is not an admirer of Trump, so you can believe they would report it as a fact were it so. From www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-leave-office/: "U.S. President Donald Trump joked about not leaving office at the end of his elected term to troll critics who have expressed fears he won't leave. However, Trump has never seriously stated that he would refuse to leave office, and in June 2020 he told Fox News he will leave office to 'go on, do other things' if not re-elected."

I am not a biblical scholar, yet I have learned that one should not spread false information. The Bible has reports on spreading false information, namely: Exodus 23:1: You shall not raise a false report: put not your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. Also the 9th Commandment, "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor."

As a pastor, you should know what the Bible tells us on that subject. I will no longer read what you write, for I can not trust that you are being truthful.

F. D. SCHMIDT

Sumter