Commentary: Hold Alexander, Walberg accountable in ‘Big Lie’

For the first time in the history of the United States, we have failed to have a peaceful transfer of power after a presidential election.

There is strong bipartisan acknowledgement that the violent mob that attacked our Capitol on Jan. 6 was spurred on by the cumulative effect of the “Big Lie” shamelessly promoted by Donald Trump insisting that the 2020 election was rigged and he was the victim of voter fraud. Trump made unverified and meritless accusations of voter fraud throughout the entire 2020 campaign cycle.

He repeated these baseless accusations in his daily tweets, on Facebook, at his campaign rallies, at his press conferences, on cable news interviews, and through his written and verbal communications with Republican leaders at the state and federal level. He spent $50 million on ads to advance these baseless claims. 

Sadly, Trump was successful in getting many of his Republican underlings to support, repeat and spread this lie to their constituents. Officials like our state representative, Julie Alexander, and our congressional representative, Tim Walberg, participated in spreading this falsehood and continue to refuse to publicly state that Biden won in a free and fair election.

I spoke with Representative Alexander directly by phone and with Representative Walberg’s office spokesperson (I was told Representative Walberg was too busy to call me back) and provided multiple opportunities for them to officially acknowledge that Biden won in a free and fair election, to which they both refused to agree. I reached out to Senator Mike Shirkey’s office through email but did not receive a response regarding this matter. I also attempted to leave a voice message. However, his message box was full and would not accept a message.

I am making this information public because I feel strongly that there should be accountability and consequences for such a dangerous misrepresentation of the facts. 

The facts denouncing the “Big Lie” are:

• Trump lost in more than 60 court cases where he claimed voter fraud or other irregularities.
• The former Attorney General of the United States, William Barr, said he could not find evidence that would have changed the outcome.
• Republican U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell acknowledged Biden won in a free and fair                    election.
• Liz Cheney, U.S. House Republican Chair and third-highest ranking Republican, stated Biden won in a free and fair election.
• Several recounts were performed in swing states and found no material differences in the vote counts.
• Each state officially verified their Electoral College votes.
• Michigan performed an audit that supported the original count.
• The final official vote count showed Biden had more than 7 million more popular votes than Donald Trump, and that he held an Electoral College advantage of 306-232.

Based on the above facts, I feel it is untenable for any elected official to support and promote the falsehood that Biden did not win in a free and fair election. For elected officials to continue to promote the “Big Lie” is to destroy their credibility and to lose the confidence and trust of their constituents.

Therefore, I encourage their constituents to withhold future campaign contributions, as well as their votes in future elections, for State Representative Alexander and Congressional Representative Walberg.

— Submitted by Al Widner