Hundreds of people of faith call on GOP to repudiate ‘Big Lie’ of fraud
More than 300 people of faith are calling on the Republican members of Tennessee’s congressional delegation to repudiate the “Big Lie” that the 2020 presidential election was a fraud.
The group signed a letter critical of the elected officials and former President Donald Trump, calling for action in response to the
Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
“We call upon you to publicly acknowledge the Big Lie that this was a fraudulent national election. This was a fair and free election which has been upheld by 60 courts, Trump-appointed judges on the Supreme Court and former Attorney General William Barr,” the letter states. “We, the undersigned clergy, and people of faith and moral concern demand that you speak truth now and repudiate the Big Lie to prevent more violence.”
The letter was shipped to the offices of U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, said the Rev. Neelley Hicks, who helped organize the effort. The letter was also forwarded to staff members of the seven Tennessee Republicans serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, Hicks, the executive
director of Harper Hill Global in Nashville, said via email.
In addition to sending the letter, members of three Abrahamic faith traditions who signed the letter also read it together on Feb. 12 during a brief Facebook live video. Hicks, a Christian, was joined by Pat Halper, a member of Nashville’s Jewish community, and Sabina Mohyuddin, a Muslim woman and the executive director of the American Muslim Advisory Council.
Hicks said their faith in God demands that they speak up.
“We expect better,” Hicks said in the Facebook video. “Caring for our Democracy is crucial at this point in time when it has been threatened so greatly.”
HOW DID TENNESSEE’S REPUBLICAN MEMBERS OF CONGRESS RESPOND?
When asked by The Tennessean for a response to the letter, Hagerty’s spokesman Judd Deere said via email the senator had immediately condemned the violence at the Capitol, and he wants to protect the country’s elections.
“The senator’s ultimate goal is to protect the Electoral College so that Tennesseans always have a voice in deciding the presidency, which is why he believes we must examine how, using the pandemic as an excuse, activists changed the election rules that did in fact lead to less secure methods of voting, invited wrongdoing and prevented adequate oversight. Ensuring each state conducts constitutional elections in which we can all be confident must be a priority,” said Deere, who previously worked for the Trump White House.
The rest of the Republican members of Tennessee’s delegation — Blackburn and U.S. Reps. Tim Burchett, Scott DesJarlais, Chuck Fleischmann, Mark Green, Diana Harshbarger, Dave Kustoff and John Rose — did not respond to The Tennessean’s request for comment.
Like Hagerty, they have all condemned the mob.
Blackburn and Hagerty, staunch Trump supporters, had announced that they planned to object to the Electoral College vote. But the two senators reversed course after the Capitol
attack and voted against congressional efforts to challenge the votes confirming President Joe Biden’s election. The state’s GOP House delegation voted against certifying the vote in key states.
Before this year, the last time Congress heard an Electoral College objection was in 2005, when Democrats challenged President George W. Bush’s victory in Ohio.
A few days before the Capitol insurrection, the two senators from Tennessee also joined a group of Republican senators calling for the creation of an electoral commission that would conduct an emergency audit of disputed election results.
NO CREDIBLE EVIDENCE OF A STOLEN ELECTION
Despite no successful arguments in court, Trump repeatedly said publicly that the election was rigged against him. Trump’s Justice and Homeland Security departments also said no serious fraud was committed. Biden won with 306-232 of the Electoral College votes.
The letter sent by the 300-plus people of faith blames Trump for inciting the violent mob that broke into the U.S. Capitol in an effort to prevent Congress from certifying Biden’s victory. Trump was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives for the role he played in the riot, and 57 of 100 members of the U.S. Senate voted to convict him. The majority vote did not meet the two-thirds threshold required.
The letter also accused the Republican members of Tennessee’s congressional delegation of amplifying Trump’s rhetoric.
“The events of Jan. 6, 2021 would not have happened without the echoes you gave to Donald Trump’s words; the credibility you gave to his lies, and the supportive wall you built around him that will continue to undermine dedicated leaders and departments of the federal government. You stood ready to sacrifice our democracy and states’ rights to keep him in power,” the letter states.
“We are a nation of laws and your positions attempted to render the rulings of our state courts, the Supreme Court and our nation’s attorney general invalid.”