Dear President Trump: election officials are facing death threats on your watch
On Tuesday, a Republican senior election official in Georgia, Gabriel Sterling, gave an emotional and scathing press conference in which he described death threats and abuse he and others affiliated with counting the presidential vote in Georgia have endured. Sterling called out Donald Trump and other Republicans for stoking conspiracy theories about the election and encouraging an atmosphere of intimidation against people trying to do their jobs.
Here is a transcript of his public remarks:
I’m going to do my best to keep it together because it all gone too far, all of it. Joe diGenova [an attorney for the Trump campaign] today asked for Chris Krebs, a patriot who ran [the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency], to be shot. A twentysomething [voting technician] in Gwinnett county today has death threats and a noose put out saying he should be hung for treason because he was transferring a report on batches from a [voting machine] to a county computer so he could read it. It has to stop.
Mr President, you have not condemned these actions or this language. Senators, you have not condemned this language or these actions. This has to stop. We need you to step up, and if you’re going to take a position of leadership, show some.
My boss, [Georgia secretary of state Brad] Raffensperger, his address is out there. They have people doing caravans in front of their house. They’ve had people come on to their property. Tricia, his wife of 40 years, is getting sexualized threats through her cellphone. It has to stop.
This is elections. This is the backbone of democracy, and all of you who have not said a damn word are complicit in this. It’s too much. Yes, fight for every legal vote. Go through your due process. We encourage you. Use your first amendment. That’s fine.
Death threats, physical threats, intimidation, it’s too much. It’s not right. They’ve lost the moral high ground to claim that it is.
I don’t have all the best words to do this because I’m angry. And the straw that broke the camel’s back today is, again, this 20-year-old contractor for a voting-system company just trying to do his job … in fact, I talked to Dominion [a voting system company] today, and they said he’s one of the better ones they’ve got. His family’s getting harassed now. There’s a noose out there with his name on it, and it’s just not right.
I’ve got police protection outside my house. Fine. You know, I took a higher-profile job. I get it. Secretary ran for office. His wife knew that too. This kid took a job. He just took a job. It’s just wrong. I can’t begin to explain the level of anger I have right now over this. And every American, every Georgian, Republican and Democrat alike, should have that same level of anger.
Mr President, it looks like you likely lost the state of Georgia. We’re investigating, there’s always a possibility, I get it. You have the rights to go to the courts. What you don’t have the ability to do – and you need to step up and say this – is stop inspiring people to commit potential acts of violence. Someone is going to get hurt, someone is going to get shot, someone is going to get killed, and it’s not right. It’s not right … all of this is wrong.
DiGenova, who said for Chris Krebs to get shot, is a former US attorney. He knows better. The people around the president know better. Mr President, as the secretary said yesterday, people aren’t giving you the best advice of what’s actually going on on the ground. It’s time to look forward. If you want to run for re-election in four years, fine – do it. But everything we’re seeing right now, there’s not a path. Be the bigger man here, and step in. Tell your supporters: “Don’t be violent. Don’t intimidate.” All that’s wrong. It’s un-American.