Statement on 2020 Election Results and Mar-A-Lago Raid

September 13, 2022

Much of the nationwide focus of the 2022 election cycle stems from the results of the 2020 election cycle and further legal drama surrounding the former President of the United States. Though I hope to discuss other issues and ideas during my campaign, this is an important enough issue that I want to be very clear where I stand.

1. President Joseph R. Biden Jr. won the 2020 election in a free and fair election. The former president and his allies have provided no credible evidence of election fraud sufficient to overturn a single state’s result. Much less the several states needed to change the election result.
2. The January 6th attack on the United States Capitol directly resulted from the election lies told by the former president and his allies. The United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack has interviewed countless witnesses (under oath) and continues to find more evidence that January 6th was part of a larger effort to overturn the 2020 election.
3. We are a nation of laws and nobody is above the law, including incumbent and former presidents. That being said, caution is warranted in order to avoid the appearance of political motivations. For example, the alleged misuse of the Presidential Seal by a former president is probably not worth involving the FBI. However, with sufficient evidence of serious wrongdoing, the Department of Justice has both the right and the obligation to investigate and even charge a former president.
4. Vocally disagreeing with President Biden or his policies is 100% allowed in our free country. Being a registered Republican does not make someone a threat to the United States, nor does having supported or voted for former President Trump in 2016 or 2020. That being said, there is no place in the United States of America for political violence, the threats of political violence, or the rejection of free and fair election results simply because we don’t like them. Trust is the most important resource in a constitutional government. Trust that the system is fair and that every vote counts. The need for trust is the very reason that it is so difficult to export democracy. It is challenging for someone who had no reason to trust their old system of government to suddenly trust a new one. Spreading lies and pushing accusations of corruption that have zero evidence backing them up is dangerous for our system of government precisely because it erodes that precious trust.