Bump is under the impression that I am dismissing former president Donald Trump’s efforts to undo the results of the 2020 elections as “something of a lark.” He writes that I am keen on minimizing Trump’s threat to democracy because I am sympathetic to “Trump’s House-Republican-driven policy agenda.”

The characterization is false. I have denounced Trump’s post-election conduct repeatedly, urged his removal from office over it, and called it — in the very column Bump is criticizing, and in its subheadline — “alarming.” And far from wishing to promote Trump’s “policy agenda,” or that of House Republicans, I am pretty sure that no such agendas exist.

In case you don’t have time to read my column, here is some of what I actually think: 1) Trump’s disgraceful behavior did not come close to keeping him in office, and it does no one any good to pretend that it did. 2) His post-election campaign is a better argument for reforms to the Electoral Count Act that Democrats are not pursuing than it is for the grab bag of progressive wishes they are. 3) It is wrong to blame Republicans for not cooperating with Democratic efforts to pass reforms to the Electoral Count Act when those efforts do not exist.