Democrats must reach out the hand of reconciliation to their opponents

Seventy million US voters are today trying to come to terms with an electoral defeat that they perceive, rightly or wrongly, as having a hugely negative effect on their life prospects.

You do not have to be a psychiatrist to appreciate that the incessant crowing and posturing of the victorious Biden camp, and their aficionados worldwide, will deeply entrench the already embedded feeling of victimhood and resentment among Trump’s many millions of supporters.  

Accordingly, if ever there was a time for a show of magnanimity in victory, this surely is it. And it is now up to those who reject the apparent malice of Trumpism to reach out the hand of reconciliation to their opponents.

Colin Burke

Cartmel

America is not my country but the results of the US election have made my heart soar. It is a cause for joy in these uncertain times. For the past four years, America has been an easy target for ridicule, criticism and mockery. I am not saying this was deserved or unjustified: I simply believe the American people deserve a break.  

Of course, there is a loud minority that will complain that this was not their choice or that the election was rigged (funnily enough, the same people who, four years ago, told America to just accept the results!) but this is not the minority I believe we should be concerned with. I am thinking of the minorities who have suffered the last four years under a president who did not want them, did not respect them, but undermined their existence – not only as American citizens but also as human beings.  

As a Muslim woman, I understand the constant pressure of trying to disprove every cruel and absurd stereotype society has about you. It is a burden that no one else sees, but one that I hope has become lighter for these minorities.  

In no way has America been fixed overnight – the divisions wrought by this election may only exacerbate existing tensions. But I do hope that, for the most part, Americans will be able to breathe a little easier.  

Yusra Dahri  

Tilford

My mother often said that when, in 1961, John F Kennedy was elected as the youngest ever president of the US, it felt like the world was going to change for the better.

Now in 2020, with the election of Joe Biden as the oldest ever president of the US, I am confident that the world, and without doubt America, will be a better place.

Robert Boston

Kingshill

Who knows what soon-to-be ex-President Trump will get up to between now and the January inauguration? Perhaps Mr Biden should promise a pardon and reinstatement with full pension rights to any government official who refuses to carry out unreasonable executive orders issued by Trump while still president.  

Patrick Cosgrove

Shropshire

Millions of words have been used in comment on the state of US politics over the past four years. A quote from James Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, in Andrew Feinberg's piece ('After disappointing results in Congress, a civil war among Democrats is brewing’, 7 November) distills the dilemma of those who care about democracy: “We have to find better ways of refuting lies and replacing them with truthful understanding.”

So true. The same can be said of UK politics.

Felicity Pollard  

Isle of Mull

Janet Street-Porter’s description of our current shopping rights ('Covid-19 shopping restrictions are going to be a problem for small businesses that brighten our high streets’, 7 November) highlighted the ongoing nonsense of our government’s random edicts. However, she did not mention Amazon, that greedy, non-tax-paying monster that is currently doing even better than it did pre-Covid in hoovering up shoppers’ custom.

I beg Independent readers to shun them and support UK shops and their online services.

Beryl Wall

London W4

Apparently lockdown has led to an increasing number of people experimenting with home naturism, but there have been suggestions that this may lead to a dearth of patriotism this Remembrance Day because renouncing clothes will mean that people have nowhere to put their Armistice Day emblems.

I only have only one thing to say in response to this: poppycock!

Julian Self

Milton Keynes