Valley lawmakers, it’s time to demand that Trump concede the presidential election
It is shocking, sad, and exceedingly troubling to witness the angry mob supporting President Trump storm the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.
Men broke out windows to the stately building. Others got into the halls and to the very doors of the House and Senate chambers, some carrying guns.
Blame for the rioting falls squarely on the president, whose characterization of an election having been stolen inspired his backers to act in what some news outlets called an insurrection. In the days before Congress was to certify the Electoral College’s presidential election result, Trump called on supporters to rally on his behalf in the capital.
The only solution to ending such repulsive behavior is clear: Trump must immediately concede the presidential election to Joe Biden. He must admit, once and for all, that he lost and his term will end when Biden is sworn in on Jan. 20. The time is now.
Central San Joaquin Valley lawmakers — Reps. Jim Costa, Devin Nunes, David Valadao and Kevin McCarthy — must pressure him to do just that.
And they must do it immediately. Put that demand on the official letterhead of your offices and send it to the president. The longer this lingers, the more there are chances for Trump supporters to riot elsewhere in America.
Costa is the lone Democrat of that group, and he will likely have no problem making that demand. If McCarthy, as House minority leader, and Nunes, as ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, truly are the patriots they claim to be, the time has come to tell Trump he must go.
Election fairly won
The Republicans in Congress, and indeed across the nation, must also come to grips with the truth that Biden won the election fairly. That has been verified over and over again by secretaries of state, election officials and judges in courts across the nation.
Contrary to the plethora of false claims made by Trump since the November election, nothing has been stolen. American democracy worked. Individual secretaries of states, like Georgia’s Brad Raffensperger, have been heroic in facing down outrageous demands by Trump and his backers in Congress to overturn election results.
The president stoked Wednesday’s rioting by calling on supporters to come to Washington, D.C. and rally on the day when Congress was to certify the Electoral College’s results. That tradition got upended when the rioters broke into the Capitol.
The chaos was in keeping with the central theme of Trump’s presidency as he disrupted political norms and traditions American presidents had built up over the nation’s history.
But stoking chaos is not governing, and the American people decided they’d had enough when they elected Biden over Trump by a 7 million-vote margin.
Valley lawmakers, the time has come to pressure President Trump to concede. May his final days in office pass quietly, peacefully and without any more drama. The nation has had enough.
This story was originally published January 6, 2021 at 1:16 PM.