Wisconsin to Johnson: Join calls for justice or resign

By: 
Nicole Safar
Special to NEW Media

Days after it became clear that Joe Biden had won the 2020 election, Sen. Ron Johnson was asked by a reporter if he was congratulating Biden on his win. “Nothing to congratulate him for,” was Johnson’s snarky reply. A month later, Johnson used his platform as chairman of the Homeland Security Committee to broadcast conspiracy theories about the election. In early January, Johnson announced his intention to vote against certification of the election results, a plan interrupted only by a violent mob of right-wing militants attacking the Capitol, incited by President Donald Trump.

Johnson has been a leader in lying to the very people he claims to represent, stirring up anger and fear among his and the president’s supporters. He knowingly repeated lies about the election, and the militants who stormed the Capitol took him at his word. Wisconsinites are furious and Johnson is at a crossroads: Vote to convict the president or heed the calls for his resignation.

Rebukes of Johnson have swept through Wisconsin’s op-ed pages, including Johnson’s very first endorser in 2010. The editorial boards of the Wisconsin State Journal and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel rightfully criticized Johnson and his co-conspirators, Reps. Tom Tiffany and Scott Fitzgerald, who were prepared to throw out our votes in Wisconsin’s presidential election. Well over a dozen citizens from around the state have written letters to the editor to express their distaste for their senior senator. Thousands have signed petitions calling for Johnson’s removal.

Johnson has a chance to repair some of the damage that he has caused to our democracy. He must vote to convict Donald Trump for the offense of inciting an attack on the Capitol. He must also tell Trump’s supporters that Biden won fair and square, and that the lies he and others told about the election were just that — lies.

In the wake of the Jan. 6 attack, unity is needed. We need unity around accountability, justice, and the preservation of our sacred norms around the peaceful transfer of power. Johnson should make the patriotic choice to hold Trump and his accomplices accountable and stand up for American democracy. With five dead, the transition to the Biden Administration can tragically no longer be categorized a peaceful transfer of power. Those responsible for the Jan. 6 attack need to be held accountable to ensure that a precedent of violence is not set in our country.

If Johnson will not fulfill his oath of office and vote to protect our democracy, there is only one option left — his resignation. Johnson swore to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” If he cannot fulfill that duty, he has no business governing in our name.

Trump’s actions are a threat to our democratic values and the rule of law. We must remove from office all those who protect Trump over our Constitution and our democracy. Only then can we deliver a better future, where democracy means liberty and justice for all, no exceptions.

 


 

Nicole Safar is the executive director of A Better Wisconsin Together, a state-based research and communications hub for progressives.