Denounce Trump's Lies and False Charges 

Public Comments by Chris Walters at the Henderson County Commission Meeting November 15, 2023 

Good morning, commissioners. If we want government to work, we have to follow commonsense standards of behavior called norms. I’d like to make a comparison between the expected norms of behavior in sports and what should be the norm of behavior in politics. Sports is a competition in which one side wins and the other side loses. It’s the norm in high school athletics, for example, here in our county, that after the game’s over, the losers of the game, no matter how disappointed, shake hands with the winners and say congratulations. Organized sports can’t function if people don’t accept the result at the end of the game. Likewise, in politics, the loser must accept the outcome and move on to the next election.

But that’s not what happened after the 2020 election. Donald Trump was a bad loser and turned his destructive fury on the political norms of our country. He attempted to overturn the election and the constitutional order. After it was clear that he lost, Trump claimed, without any evidence, that he had actually won the election and singled out for charges of fraud, votes totals in several states, including Georgia. Trump called the Georgia secretary of state in Atlanta and had a long, recorded conversation with him trying to get him to change the vote totals to give him the win.

This is from the recording of the Trump’s conversation with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.  Trump: we have won this election in Georgia based on all this and there’s nothing wrong with saying that Brad and there’s nothing wrong with saying You know um that you’ve recalculated. Raffensperger replied. Well, Mr. president the challenge that you have is the data you have is wrong. Trump goes on to threaten Raffensperger by saying he’s committing a crime and then says, “…so look all I want to do is this ¬–I just want to find 11,780 votes which is one more than we have because we won the state.”

(New York Times headlines: January 4 2021. On Tape Trump Pushes Georgia to Find Votes.)

But Trump didn’t win the state and he didn’t win the election. His own attorney general told him that he lost. His lawsuits were dismissed. His own elections chief told him that it was the most secure election in American history. Trump created the big lie and it spread among Republicans throughout the country. Fox news spread the lie and lost a nearly $800 million defamation lawsuit for knowingly broadcasting falsehoods about election fraud.  

Commissioners, with all due respect, by not explicitly denouncing Donald Trump, you appear to support him, and you act like leaders of a party that doesn’t respect the norms that support our constitution and the rule of law. Your actions can change that perception. I encourage you to do the right thing, the honorable thing. Denounce Donald Trump and his lies, his false charges, his attacks on judges, witnesses, and the norms of our judicial system, and his assault on our democratic republic and our freedoms – freedoms that countless individuals have risked their lives for and have died to defend.

Someone has to take the first step in Henderson County and be a leader. You can do that. That’s what we expect leaders to do. Thank you.