MY RURAL AMERICA calls for a return to elected officials who offer respect for the U.S. Constitution and respect for each other. Beginning before the 2020 elections, election officials (whose job is to make certain we have safe and secure elections ) have been forced to endure false accusations and serious physical threats. Now, some of Trump supporters — mostly the very same supporters who have spewed a long series of unproven accusations and threats, demand a return to civility.
Civility matters. Facts matter. We appreciate the need to return to civility. To do so, people who still have not noticed or recognized the more than 18 formal investigations that proved the 2020 and 2022 elections were NOT stolen need to calm down and recognize the facts.
We applaud Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold (D), who is clear about the problem, saying that calling out election conspiracy theories is not partisan or responsible for political violence. “It’s a false equation to say that standing up against attacks against democracy and providing some type of accountability for lies is the same thing as a call for violence. It is not.”.
Griswold is correct. The FBI reports it is investigating ten cases involving threats against Griswold. Cases involving threats from election deniers and others who make false claims about both candidates and elections and then threaten the people who make factual statements in disagreements must stop.
EDITOR’s NOTE: The 2020 election was NOT stolen. The very same people who claimed the election was stolen have been disproved repeatedly. Now, these same folks are once again threatening the lives of people who tell the truth. Election officials are wearing thin, with fewer and fewer willing to serve because of the threats to their families and themselves. These threats are the real threat to democracy.