“It has to stop”

The outgoing president has an unhealthy influence over his more strident voter base. They actually do not fathom the obvious – Donald Trump will do anything to avoid losing, even burn everything down. Sadly, a more zealous few are threatening violence to hard working folks who remember what an oath is and are trying to get the election right.

In a Boomberg article entitled “Trump Accused by GOP Official of Inspiring Threats of Violence” by Margaret Newkirk and Mark Niquette the following paragraphs speak volumes:

“Georgia’s Republican voting system manager denounced President Donald Trump and the state’s two Republican U.S. senators for not condemning, and even encouraging through silence, the threats of violence being made against election workers and the state’s top elections official.

His voice shaking with anger, the normally even-keeled Gabriel Sterling said his boss, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, had received death threats, has had Trump supporters driving caravans around his house and entering his property, and that “his wife of 40 years” has been getting threats over her mobile phone.

‘It has to stop, he added.

Sterling said he decided to speak out after he learned about a series of threats against a 20-year-old contractor — including photos of a noose with his name on it — in response to a video of him working with a piece of election equipment. The video has been widely circulated this week by Trump backers as proof of fraud, which it’s not, Sterling said.

‘This kid took a job. He just took a job,’ Sterling said during a news conference on Tuesday in Atlanta to provide an update on the progress of a recount requested by Trump. ‘I can’t begin to explain the level of anger I have right now over this. And every American, every Georgian, Republican and Democrat alike, should have that same level of anger.'”

Sterling directly addressed Trump, saying that while he had the right to fight for every legal vote, it was his responsibility to draw the line. The president continues to insist without evidence that the election was rigged — despite even Attorney General William Barr saying the Justice Department hasn’t uncovered widespread fraud that would change the election outcome.

‘Mr. President, it looks like you likely lost the state of Georgia,’ Sterling said. ‘Stop inspiring people to commit potential acts of violence. Someone’s going to get hurt, someone’s going to get shot, someone’s going to get killed. And it’s not right.’

‘Elections are the backbone of this democracy and all of you who have not said a damn word are complicit in this,’ he said. ‘It’s too much.’

Raffensperger praised Sterling at a news conference on Wednesday and said ‘it’s about time more people are out there speaking with truth.‘

‘This is exactly the kind of language that is at the base of the growing threat environment for election workers who are simply doing their jobs,’ Raffensperger said of Trump’s continued claims about voter fraud without evidence.”

Let me be clear. The outgoing president is throwing gasoline on a fire with his unsupported and consistently refuted assertions of wide-scale voter fraud. More than a few Republican officials have spoken out, but what is missing is more condemnation from the spineless Republican Senators. Republican Congressman Denver Riggleman even called their silence “unethical.”

Mr. Trump, you lost because you got fewer votes in the states that were in contention. Your claims of wide-spread voter fraud and that you actually won the election are ludicrous, dangerous and unsurprising. And, one thing that will not be surprising is if someone gets hurt, you will wash your hands of any blame because accountability is not in your modus operandi.

So, I hope with Attorney General William Barr’s findings of no wide-scale fraud, more Republicans will tell you the words you need to hear – “man up and admit you lost.”

Trump Accused by GOP Official of Inspiring Threats of Violence (msn.com)