Stefanik and other Republicans failed a key test of courage
On Wednesday, January 6, we witnessed the president of the United States incite and encourage violent extremists to attempt to overthrow our democratically elected government. This was nothing short of an attempted coup, and all elected officials who were responsible for inciting this insurrection must be
Sam Fein is an Albany County Legislator representing the 6th District, comprising part of Albany’s South End and Arbor Hill neighborhoods. held accountable.
The main perpetrator was Donald Trump, but this insurrection would not have happened without partners in government who were willing to peddle his conspiracy theories for their own political gain. We have a system of checks and balances, and those in Congress are supposed to use their role to put a check on a president who puts our democratic institutions at risk. Many Republican members of Congress have abandoned their duties throughout four years of inexcusable behavior and harmful policies from Trump. However, their participation in inciting this attempted coup and continued support of undermining the will of the voters after the insurrection is the final straw.
Trump must be removed from office through impeachment or the 25th Amendment. New York Reps. Elise Stefanik, Chris Jacobs, Nicole Malliotakis, and Lee Zeldin must resign immediately.
These four members of Congress made a choice. They chose
to spread dangerous conspiracy theories that threaten our democracy instead of doing their jobs to uphold the U.S. Constitution. While they may claim that before the insurrection they did not anticipate the consequences, that already-inadequate excuse completely collapsed when they voted to overturn the election later that night.
As an elected representative, I understand the political pressure that we often face to take a specific position. That is not an excuse to dismantle our democracy or to commit immoral or unconstitutional acts. In the face of such a challenge, it is necessary for our leaders to show courage. Stefanik, Jacobs, Malliotakis, and Zeldin failed at this most crucial test. They are not fit to continue serving. We cannot allow this behavior to become normalized.
My grandparents were Holocaust survivors and many of my family members were murdered by the Nazis. What I am
about to say I do not take lightly. Adolf Hitler attempted a failed coup to seize power from the democratically elected government of Germany in 1923. Ten years later he seized power by exploiting a crisis, a fire at the Reichstag, the house of parliament. Many historians believe that Hitler and his Nazi party instigated this fire themselves. In any case, they used the incident to round up opponents and achieve unchecked power for themselves.
We do not know where we are headed, but we cannot afford to head further down the path of political violence. We are fortunate that our democratic institutions prevailed on Wednesday. We must not take them for granted.
Removal from office of Trump, along with the four representatives from New York who attempted to aid him in overturning the election, will not happen without our leaders rising to the occasion and demanding that it happen. The stakes are simply too high to stay silent. If a representative does not have the courage to speak up about an issue of this magnitude, then when will they speak up? If not now, when?