As the senate runoff elections in Georgia which could turn the senate to a blue majority are gaining traction and publicity by many, there is also a lot of input by members of the Government. In Georgia, there have been many threats of violence recently against overseers of elections, and it is becoming very nerve wracking to these officials. Gabriel Sterling, Georgia's voting system implementation manager spoke out very strongly against these threats and how President Trump is contributing to them. President Trump has not condemned the threats or violence against these officials, and Mr. Sterling, at a conference at his state's capitol stated: "It has to stop, Mr. President, you have not condemned these actions or this language." He then went on to say that these were elections, the backbone of democracy, and anyone who has not stepped in is complicit. Threats had been made not only against Sterling, but against many Georgia officials and their families, and Sterling, at the conference stated: "Stop inspiring people to commit potential acts of violence. Someone is going to get hurt, someone is going to get shot, someone is going to get killed. And it’s not right.”
A lot of these threats began when President Trump refused to concede, and still believes that he won Georgia. While he does not condemn these threats, he is still lashing out at anyone and everyone who states that he did in fact lose Georgia, including Georgia's own Governor, Brian Kemp, a Trump supporter himself. He is also tweeting many strong messages that contain a lot of misinformation, claiming that the entire election was a fraud and that he won by a landslide. Recounts are taking place in Georgia of votes, but while all of this is happening, many officials in charge of overseeing this process are being virtually and physically harassed and threatened.
In my opinion, I believe that all citizens should respect the democratic process. It seems to be a compromise that every American should be able to live with, since President Trump won the election through this process in 2016 even without the popular vote. When President-elect Biden won the 2020 election with the largest number of votes in any election, it should seem obvious to both parties who the winner of the election was. Many people might not agree with the electoral college either, and I don't believe it is fair for many reasons, but in 2016 the election was won by the electoral college so it's confusing that many people don't accept this in 2020. I also believe that there should never be a threat to any person's safety, and no matter what political party someone aligns with, it's important to respect their safety and to condemn anyone who puts them in a state of fear.
Discussion Questions
1. Do you believe that President Trump's silence on the issue of threats to Georgia officials is justified? Why might he stay silent when overseers of a pressing issue to him are being threatened?
2. Do you think Trump's refusal to accept the results of the election could result in violence, or do you think that these threats are the extent of the conflict we will be seeing?
3. What is your opinion on the democratic process we currently hold (electoral college vs. popular vote, etc.) and why do you think many people, especially Trump supporters are claiming that it's rigged in 2020, but didn't in 2016? Do you believe that we should only take the popular vote when declaring the president?
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/01/us/politics/georgia-election-trump.html
President Trump's silence on the issue of threats to Georgia officials is absolutely not justified. This is greater than partisan divisions, this is a matter of human life and Donald Trump needs to recognize that. He might stay silent when overseers of a pressing issue to him are being threatened because he wants to work for his own interests. He believes that he won the election, and speaking up means working against his interests. Trump's refusal to accept the results of the election may result in violence, but very small amounts of it. This would likely only be from small right-wing militant groups over COVID restrictions that they believe Trump wouldn't impose if he had office as he "rightfully should", but this is just speculation. I think it is time to do away with the electoral college, because it rules millions of votes to be insignificant. A candidate only has to win in a handful of swing states to win an election, they don't have to truly convince a majority of Americans that they are the correct candidate. Many people are claiming that the 2020 election was rigged because Trump lost, and they did not claim that in the 2016 election because Trump won off the electoral college. I do believe that we should only take the popular vote in presidential elections.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that Trump's silence is justified. He has already tried to rid the authority of the election by spreading lies and disinformation. This is the only way for him to go against the election and its results. By staying silent he is not giving up in the election which in turn gets him more support by his followers. By not accepting the election it is uprooting democracy and would put our government to the test. Personally I feel that the Electoral College is not a great system and there should be some revisions. The system favors states with smaller populations which is not very fair. It is ironic that in 2016 no Trump supporters called fraud even when there were legitimate allegations of interference. But in an election that has been called the safest election in American history by the Department of Homeland security, many are claiming fraud with no evidence. Overall, the system is very secure and it helps to keep democracy alive.
ReplyDeleteI do not think President Trump's silence is justified. He is the president of the United States and he needs to think about the safety of the American people, no matter what. It is his duty to do so. His silence is only implying that this kind of behavior is acceptable, which it is not by any means if it results in violence. Trump still cannot accept his loss in Georgia as well as in the presidential election, which is a demonstration of bad sportsmanship but also leadership. He needs to be able to put his pride and ego behind him and do what is best for the country, which is train President elect Joe Biden in order for the country to not completely fall apart. Furthermore, I think Trump's silence is creating violence because as I said before, he is instead justifying this behavior which is unacceptable for the President of the United States to be doing.
ReplyDeleteAs everyone else has said so far, Trump’s silence on this serious issue isn’t justified. Regardless of political party, threatening violence because of Georgia’s election results is not only harmful to the victims but to our democracy as well. The president should use his authority to condemn these threats and not doing so just means he is complicit in this harm. In terms of the presidential elections, I think violence could unfortunately result in violence since there are people convinced that there was voter fraud. The president’s refusal to admit defeat in the election is only making things worse, since his supporters likely won’t accept election results until he does. I think that Trump’s supporters are unwilling to accept this year’s election results, despite accepting them in 2016, because it just isn’t what they want to hear. Trump also spent the months leading up to the election making claims about how mail-in ballots are fraudulent, so it it’s not surprising that people believe this.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your last statement Vivienne, when humanity comes to terms of living with this madness and insanity, when it seems like there are no limits to how far one can hurt someone, that's not acceptable at all. That's exactly the time for especially those in charge to condemn and reprimand the situation, not be contributing to it. I think it is a possibility for there to be violence from the election results because the nation is deeply divided into what they believe and if one goes into protest, I think there is a high chance of backlash from the other side which is scary to think about, but I think this because of what we saw over the summer, violence even if it wasn't "largescale", it was still violence breaking out because some leaders didn't address the issue that people are being oppressed right in front of their eyes. Silence from Trump when there is violence is not justified, and violence from Trump's silence shouldn't be justified either. America should know better, and people should know better.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Caitlin that it's definitely very possible that violence will erupt as Trump continues to refuse to accept the results of the election. Many people will be angry and frustrated that Trump refuses to leave when it is clear that there has not been enough evidence of voter fraud to the point that the election results would be messed up. It's disappointing to see, as he is not leaving the White House in a gracious and respectable manner, further exemplifying the reasons why he was voted out. I think the electoral vote is in place for a reason and that its necessity is valid: it gives all states a say. If it wasn't in place, bigger states would almost have all the power to choose president.
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