by Anthony Flaccavento – the Democratic nominee for Congress against Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA09) in 2012 and 2018 – who adds, “People have begun contacting Morgan Griffith, using the arguments in this piece, urging him to make a public statement about the election’s integrity and Joe Biden’s decisive victory. Readers of Blue Virginia, especially those in or from the 9th CD, are encouraged to join this campaign. He can be contacted by email at this link or by phone at 540 381-5671 or 202 225-3861″
An Open Letter to Congressman Morgan Griffith:
Congressman Griffith,
You have the privilege of representing the citizens of Virginia’s 9th Congressional District. It is long past time for you to do your duty and publicly state the truth: Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election by sizeable margins in both the popular vote and the electoral college; claims of widespread election fraud or even irregularities across the country have been repeatedly and decisively refuted; and that enabling President Trump, through your silence, to spread the lie that this election was stolen by Democrats undermines the incoming administration and exacerbates the deep and destructive divide in our nation.
You know it is true because President Trump’s top election official at the Department of Homeland Security, Christopher Krebs, found that “The Nov. 3 election was the most secure in American history”. Mr Krebs was nominated to his position by Donald Trump.
You know it is true because the president and his allies have only claimed fraud in states that he lost, even when other races were much closer. North Carolina, for instance, went for Trump by 74,500 votes, less than half the number of Joe Biden’s win in Michigan.
You know it is true because Georgia, where both the governor and secretary of state are Republicans, hand counted every single ballot that was cast, and found only a tiny discrepancy with the original total, far too small to alter the outcome of the election.
You know it is true because nearly three dozen lawsuits, claiming everything from dead people voting to manipulated voting machines, have been reviewed by courts and dismissed for lack of any evidence to support their claims.
You know it is true because even your outgoing Republican House colleague, Denver Riggleman has stated that we must “stop with the ridiculous conspiracy theories and understand that the institution is bigger than any man or woman.”
You know it is true because when Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in 2016 by far smaller margins in Wisconsin and Michigan, Ms Clinton conceded the election within 24 hours.
And you know it is true because this entire campaign to undermine voters’ confidence in our election was engineered by President Trump, his media allies and your party. There is no doubt that a strong majority of Republicans believe this election was illegitimate, but we also know why: Because the president has been loudly claiming election fraud for most of 2020, with nary a Republican voice to challenge him. And because Republican state legislators in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania passed laws prohibiting the counting or even pre-processing of mail-in ballots prior to election day (in Michigan, some counties could begin the day before), with full knowledge that this would delay and likely misrepresent the final result, helping them cast doubts on the election’s integrity. The “Stop the steal!” campaign precisely follows the script that Trump and his allies have been writing since the beginning of this election cycle.
Donald Trump won the electoral college in 2016, by razor thin margins in several states. The very next day in her concession speech, Hillary Clinton told her supporters, “Donald Trump is going to be our President. We owe him an open mind and a chance to lead.” As shocked as she and millions of Democrats were by the unexpected election result, no prominent Democrat made claims that the election had been rigged or stolen; none disparaged the thousands of local elections officials who oversaw the election; none filed lawsuits with extravagant and baseless claims; none peddled sinister conspiracy theories to justify the loss. It was, in other words, the exact opposite of how Mr Trump and most of his party have handled the loss this time around. That includes you, Congressman Griffith. Your silence is helping to perpetuate this terribly destructive lie. It is your duty to publicly state the truth that Donald Trump lost in a free and fair election, and that is time for Republicans to accept that Joe Biden is going to be our president. We owe him an open mind and a chance to lead.
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