Dear Editor: A letter (April 22) from Christine Napolitan indignantly insists that we accept her reducing my comments to being a stereotyped reaction which perpetuates “fake news” since it doesn’t agree with her misperception of candidate Trump’s public remarks. She cautions that we shouldn’t stereotype her because of her Catholic identity.

No matter how many times it is repeated, it is still a lie to say Trump called Mexicans (as in all of them without qualification) murderers and rapists, rather than stating that those are the type of immigrants the Mexican government has actively assisted in border crossings.

Even the Washington Post, usually insolent toward anyone regarded as a threat to their liberalism, reiterated an accurate rendering of Trump’s remarks on July 8, 2015 where it quoted his speech verbatim: “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems to us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”

How can a specified national population have “a best” if the person making the statement allegedly believes they are all absolutely nothing but criminals? How could they all be evil if even within a subset of the population of identified criminals, some are described as good people?

The same letter went on to quote Trump directly from interviews: “What can be simpler or more accurately stated? The Mexican Government is forcing their most unwanted people into the United States. They are, in many cases, criminals, drug dealers, rapists, etc. I can never apologize for the truth. I don’t mind apologizing for things. But I can’t apologize for the truth. I said tremendous crime is coming across. Everybody knows that’s true. And it’s happening all the time. So, why, when I mention, all of a sudden I’m a racist. I’m not a racist. I don’t have a racist bone in my body.”

KENNETH FARLEY, M.DIV

Boerum Hill