We Must Protect Our Democratic Republic

As the nation moves through the primary season towards the general election in November, there is an elephant in the room that most media organizations are avoiding.  It could become a huge problem after the ballots are cast this year.  We are talking about a candidate who continues to deny the results of the 2020 election.

In the months following the November 2020 voting, Donald Trump and his supporters claimed that the results were “rigged” and that he actually defeated Joe Biden.  There were audits and recounts in many of the swing states.  There were more than sixty lawsuits. There was a Senate investigation.  In every case, no significant errors or illegal voting were found. 

When the time came for Congress to certify the electoral votes on January 6, 2021, Trump held a rally and then sent his followers to the Capitol to disrupt the process. A large group of those followers violently assaulted police officers, broke into the Capitol, and repeatedly threatened to “hang” then-vice-president Mike Pence.

Trump continues to deny that he lost the election.  According to recent polling, many Republican voters still believe that lie.

The peaceful transfer of power is the hallmark of our form of government and is the envy of the world.  In some countries, violence often accompanies changes in leadership.  That never happened in the United States before January 6th, 2021.

If we as a country want to preserve our democratic republic, we need to make sure that Donald Trump does not win in November,  we need to prepare to counter unfounded challenges to the outcome of the election, and we need to strongly resist any efforts to violently interfere with the certification of the election by the congress.

Our democracy will only endure if we the people actively work to protect it.

Jonathan Fisk

St. Joseph